A POWERBALL player got extremely lucky and won the game’s $44 million jackpot.

This lottery winner could lose over half his money if he makes a popular next move.

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A Powerball player from California matched all six numbers and won the jackpot on Monday.

This ticket was sold at a Ralphs grocery store in Dana Point, about 50 miles south of Los Angeles.

The winning numbers for this drawing were 1, 2, 15, 23, 28 and the Powerball number was 10.

This player also had to make 2x Powerplay on his winning ticket.

Despite this luck, the winner now faces a difficult decision when collecting the money.

These people must choose whether they want to receive their winnings in the form of an annuity payment or a lump sum.

With the annuity option, the profit would be distributed in monthly payments over several decades.

The player can also choose to receive his money all at once in the form of a lump sum.

This option often involves high taxes and fees.

The country’s biggest Powerball winner, Edwin Castro, faced this fate when he opted to take a lump sum payment of his $2 billion winnings.

His net income after taxes fell to $997.6 million.

Nevertheless, the Californian has spent his newfound wealth on mansions, sports cars and expensive dinners.

Castro was recently seen driving a $500,000 Porsche with his girlfriend.

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