Oregon's Biggest Lottery Winners

When you purchase a lottery ticket, it seems as if there is no chance of winning the big prize. But thanks to the Oregon Lottery, jackpots and other huge prizes are handed out almost every day. And when you play the lottery online at TheLotter Oregon, purchasing official Oregon Lottery tickets, you have a chance at winning the biggest cash prizes.

You can play the lottery online wherever you are in the state, whenever you want, at TheLotter Oregon . The official Oregon Lottery tickets you purchase will give you a chance at winning the biggest cash prizes!

You can see below the stories of some of Oregon’s biggest lottery winners, listed in chronological order. Will we be adding the story of your jackpot win next?

Arthur Brenner, $30 million Oregon's Game Megabucks jackpot, November 15, 2004

The biggest Oregon's Game Megabucks jackpot prize ever, in Oregon’s biggest state lottery, a $30 million jackpot, was claimed by Arthur Brenner, a 65-year-old semi-retired accountant. Brenner, who lives in the Portland area, chose to take a $9.8 million lump-sum cash payment of the prize, after withholding for state and federal taxes. “I was very calm in my head, but my body was shaking,” Brenner said of his reaction when he learned that he had won the jackpot. Brenner's cousin, Susan Cox, had purchased the winning $6 ticket for him at a Milwaukie convenience store. Brenner gave her a $99,000 check, a 1 percent share of the record prize. Brenner said he had been playing the same numbers for 16 years and buys a ticket for each Megabucks drawing.

Chaney and West families, $340 million Powerball jackpot, October 19, 2005

It was a family affair when Bob and Frances Chaney and their daughter and son-in-law, Carolyn and Steve West, matched all the numbers in the Powerball draw and won a $340 million jackpot, which at the time was the second-biggest jackpot in U.S. lottery history. “I’m still in disbelief that we won the big one,” said Frances Chaney. Each of the couples had thrown in $20 to purchase their joint Powerball tickets. The family, who lives in Jacksonville, in the southwest part of the state, elected to take the cash option lump sum prize, which came out to $110 million, after taxes. The two families are Oregon's biggest Powerball winners.

Daniel Gannon, $182.7 million Powerball jackpot, March 17, 2007

Milwaukie resident Daniel Gannon, 60, was on his way to dinner with his wife Candy when they stopped at a Safeway store to take out cash from an ATM. “I saw how big the [Powerball] jackpot was and bought a $5 quick pick,” Gannon said. The next morning, he checked the winning numbers in the newspaper and told his wife, "We won $182 million," and she said, "No way!" Gannon elected to take a lump sum of his prize and received about $59 million after taxes. Gannon told lottery officials that he and his wife planned to travel, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to retire.

Steven Nickell, $150.4 Powerball, June 20, 2018

Salem resident Steven Nickell had no idea he had won the Powerball jackpot when he turned in his Quick Pick single-draw ticket. “When the clerk told me that wins over $600 have to go to the Lottery office, I thought I could buy my wife something nice for the Fourth of July,” he said. “I had no idea that ticket was worth $150 million." Nickell also said: "At first I felt guilty I won. Then I realized that I'm the guy that gets to stand up and say BINGO! We all play the game, it just so happens I'm the guy who got to win this time." Nickell elected to take the lump sum of his prize which came out to nearly $61.7 million after taxes.

Cheng “Charlie” Saephan - 6 April 2024 - $1.326 Billion

After a brief delay in the pre-draw procedures, the April 6 draw had an exciting end - with a Powerball jackpot win from Portland! Cheng “Charlie” Saephan’s ticket matched all six numbers drawn to win a jackpot worth $1.326 billion. It has a cash value of $621 million. The winning numbers in this draw were white balls 22, 27, 44, 52, 69, along with the red Powerball 9. Additionally, the Power Play multiplier was 3X. This monumental win marks the largest Powerball prize ever won in Oregon, beating the previous record of $340 million set in 2005.

No Mega Millions jackpot winners!

Over the years, Oregon has had five Powerball jackpot winners. In addition to the winners listed above, Oregon had its first win in October 1992 with the Givens family of Eugene, who took home $38.4 million. Robin Powell, of Beaverton, claimed a $33.9 million prize in July 1999.

Amazingly, the state has yet to see a Mega Millions jackpot winner! Two Mega Millions players each won $3 million playing the game with the additional Megaplier option in 2019. Ann Mingus of Springfield won the prize in the draw on January 11th while Martin Oliverson of Jacksonville won the same prize in the draw on August 2nd. These players tie for being the largest Mega Millions winners in Oregon history to date. The Oregon Lottery has offered tickets to the multi-state Mega Millions lottery since 2010, but as of now, not a single ticket purchased in the state has matched all the Mega Millions numbers to win the lottery’s jackpot. Perhaps that will change one day soon.

Oregon’s next big winner could purchase their tickets online

Imagine if Oregon’s biggest lottery winners had access to purchasing lotto tickets online! There would be no need for them to wait in line at a cash register or even to worry whether their local store is open or closed. They wouldn’t even have to check draw results themselves to see if they had won lottery prizes.

Oregon’s biggest winners can purchase their official lottery tickets from anywhere in Oregon at TheLotter Oregon. We will notify them of their winnings immediately, by SMS and email.

Many ordinary Oregonians became multi-millionaires overnight by playing the lottery. Will we soon see you listed here as one of the state’s biggest winners?