$100K Powerball Ticket Sold in Georgia: Winning Numbers for Nov. 26, 2016

After a climb for more than two months, a Powerball ticket Saturday night won the $421 million jackpot. The lucky winner was purchased in Lafayette, Tennessee. But Georgia players are waking up Sunday with prize-winning tickets, too.

One Georgia ticket is worth $100,000, and another ticket purchased in the state is worth $50,000, according to lottery officials.

The winning Powerball numbers for Saturday, Nov. 26 are 17-19-21-37-44 and the Powerball was 16.

Players matching four numbers and the Powerball win the $50,000 prize, and it is doubled if they paid extra for the "power play" option.

Eleven tickets purchased in Georgia won $200 in Saturday's drawing, and more than 139 are worth $100.

A $246 million Powerball jackpot was won Sept. 17 with a ticket at a Publix store in Brookhaven, Georgia. Prior to that, the jackpot reached $480 million when the top prize went to a New Hampshire family.

Saturday's jackpot was tiny when compared with January's record Powerball jackpot, which was worth nearly $1.6 billion. But it's enough to make Americans drop by the nearest convenience store with dreams of cash.The billion-dollar-plus prize won in the Jan. 13 drawing was the largest lotto jackpot awarded in U.S. history and was split by three winners.

How to Play

Each ticket costs $2. Find out where you can buy your Powerball tickets here.

The Powerball game is played by matching all five white balls in any order and the red Powerball number. The odds of picking the correct Powerball grand prize numbers are one in 292,201,338.

If you still want to take a chance — someone has to win, right? — you have a better chance of hitting the jackpot if you let the computer pick your numbers. The Multi-State Lottery Association, which operates the Powerball game, says about 75 percent of winning tickets are selected when the numbers are chosen by a computer.

The lottery game is played in 44 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball draws can be seen on hundreds of TV stations nationwide. It may also be available on cable or your mobile device. The draws are also posted on YouTube and on our site. Where to watch the Powerball drawing on TV.

Claiming, Safeguarding Winnings
So, what should you do if you win the big prize? Many lottery winners hire an attorney, financial planner or both, since most people don’t exactly know what to do when they suddenly come into so much money. Some even bring their lawyer with them to claim their prize. The lottery does not offer any counseling services or advice for winners.

You have two choices when you claim your prize: the full value paid in 30 installments over 29 years, or a one-time lump sum that is smaller than the actual total.

Then there are the taxes. The federal tax on lottery winnings is 25 percent. Then, any extra income taxes like state or city would apply.

Financial experts say that if you can get more than a 3 or 4 percent return on an investment, the lump sum is actually the best way to go in the long-term.

Includes reporting by Deb Belt | Patch image