A lucky lottery ticket remains unclaimed in Texas, leaving a $78 million jackpot in jeopardy, state lottery officials said.
According to a news release from Texas Lottery officials, the winning ticket was sold at Gordon’s Bait & Tackle in Brownsville and matched the numbers for the Lotto Texas drawing on Saturday, Nov. 15. Officials said the winning numbers were: 7-17-23-28-39-48.
The one-time cash payment before taxes of the winning ticket amounts to $43.6 million, according to lottery officials.
“We are thrilled that a lucky player purchased the jackpot-winning ticket for this long-awaited Lotto Texas jackpot win, which is one of the largest in the game’s history,” Courtney Arbour, executive director of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, said in a statement.
If the winner does not claim their prize, the Lotto Texas ticket will expire on May 14, 2026. According to lottery officials, the player has 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim the prize.
The Nov. 15 jackpot was the sixth-largest in the history of Lotto Texas, officials said. The winning jackpot was originally advertised as a $5 million prize for the Feb. 19 drawing, but the game stretched to a record 116 drawings until the lucky ticket on Nov. 15.
“We look forward to meeting and congratulating the winner when they come forward to claim the prize,” Arbour said.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.