A single anonymous lottery player is sitting on a life-changing $24 million prize after their randomly generated Quick Pick ticket scored the top prize in Saturday night’s Lotto draw, the chairman of the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) has officially confirmed. In an exclusive interview with local outlet TV6, NLCB chair Ken Emrith laid out full details of the historic draw, confirming the winning ticket was sold at an NLCB Lottery Centre on El Dorado Road in Tunapuna on August 22, 2026.
Unlike manually selected tickets where players pick their own combinations, this winning entry used the Quick Pick system, which generates number combinations at random through a central computer. Emrith noted that the jackpot winner has not yet stepped forward to claim their windfall, as the draw was only held the previous evening. The exact value of the top prize sits at $24,027,490.65, with a mandatory 10 percent government tax deducted before the winner receives their payout.
Alongside the major jackpot, multiple secondary prizes were awarded to other participants in the draw. One lucky player matched all five regular numbers with the multiplier but missed the Powerball, taking home a $200,000 prize. Two additional entrants matched all five base numbers to claim $50,000 each. Further down the prize tiers, 8 players won $6,000 each for matching 4 numbers, the Powerball and the multiplier; 25 players claimed $1,500 apiece for matching 4 numbers and the Powerball; 67 won $1,000 each for matching 4 numbers with the multiplier; 213 took home $250 for matching 4 numbers; 316 won $100 each for matching 3 numbers, the Powerball and the multiplier; 711 claimed $25 for matching 3 numbers and the Powerball; 2,619 won $20 each for matching 3 numbers with the multiplier; 6,552 earned $5 for matching 3 numbers; 2,707 won $10 each for matching 2 numbers, the Powerball and the multiplier; and 6,897 participants received one free Quick Pick for matching 2 numbers and the Powerball.
Emrith explained that this $24 million jackpot ranks as the third-largest top prize awarded in the country’s lottery over recent years. The largest recent win came roughly two years ago, when one player took home a $30 million jackpot. Echoing long-observed patterns in lottery participation, Emrith noted that rolling jackpots that grow over consecutive draws consistently spark rising public interest, driving more people to purchase entries and lengthening lines at lottery outlets. With Saturday’s draw producing a jackpot winner, the prize pool has now reset for the next scheduled draw.
The next Lotto draw will be held this coming Wednesday, with a starting jackpot of $2 million already on offer. In line with longstanding NLCB policy designed to protect winners’ safety amid the country’s ongoing security challenges, the identity of the jackpot winner will never be disclosed to the public. Emrith emphasized that the board only releases the general location where the winning ticket was sold, to prompt the holder to check their entry and come forward to claim.
“We don’t force people to reveal their identity publicly,” Emrith explained. “We have been aware of the country’s security landscape for a long time, so we keep winners’ identities completely confidential. All we share is the general area of purchase to help the ticket holder confirm their win.”
Winners have a 12-month window from the date of the draw to claim their prize. If the jackpot remains unclaimed after the one-year period, the full prize sum will be transferred to the national government treasury. Emrith noted that this timeline is standard industry practice across global lotteries, designed to give winners sufficient time to organize their affairs and come forward with their winning ticket. As of Monday morning, the NLCB remains in a holding pattern, waiting for the holder of the winning $24 million ticket to initiate the claims process. The winning numbers from Saturday’s draw are 4, 9, 13, 28, 29, with Powerball 8.