The winning ticket was sold in a small town in Allegany, Maryland.

If you know someone who lives in western Maryland, tell them to search their homes for unclaimed lottery tickets. A record Powerball winning ticket from January 20 is still waiting to be claimed. The ticket was purchased at a market in the small town of Lonaconing in Northwest Maryland. The $731 million winning ticket was sold on January 20, after jackpots for both Powerball and Mega Millions hit record levels. The town of Lonaconing is located in Allegany County and is only home to about 1,200 people. Normally winners have 182 days from the date the ticket was drawn to claim it, with an extra 30-day extension due to COVID.

The $731 million jackpot is the fourth largest in Powerball history and the first jackpot to hit in Maryland since 2011. Two days after the Powerball jackpot hit, a record Mega Millions jackpot also hit in Michigan for $1.05 billion. Fortune seekers had been purchasing tickets for both lotteries hoping to cash in on the giant jackpots. It was the first time since the pandemic began that lottery jackpots reached these frenzied levels. At one point last spring, jackpot amounts were put on hold due to a lack of ticket sales.

Courtesy of Hermann Traub, Pixabay

Winners in Maryland are allowed to be anonymous, so we may never know who the winner is. When he or she does come forward, they can choose between taking a lump sum of $546.8 million or accepting an annual annuity that will pay out $731.1 million in 30 payments over 29 years. That does not include state or federal taxes, so the winner will probably want to see a tax planner before they claim the ticket. The owner of Coney Market, the convenience store that sold the ticket, will also get $100,000.

How would you take the winnings: lump sum or annual annuity? It's fun to imagine, isn't it?! Let us know in the comments.