The Powerball jackpot has swelled to an estimated $1 billion ahead of Saturday night’s drawing, marking one of the largest prizes in history.
No tickets matched all six numbers drawn on Wednesday: white balls 10, 16, 29, 33, 69 and the red Powerball 22.
The pot now ranks as the seventh-largest Powerball jackpot and the second to reach the billion-dollar mark this year, after a $1.787-billion prize — the second largest in lottery history — was split by winners in Missouri and Texas on Sept. 6.
Saturday’s drawing will be the 42nd in the current jackpot run, tying the April 2024 record for the most consecutive drawings without a six-number winner. Three tickets sold in Maryland, Michigan and New Jersey matched five white balls Wednesday to win $1 million, but fell short of the full jackpot.
If someone wins on Saturday, they can choose between an annuitized prize of $1 billion or a lump sum payment of $461.3 million, before taxes, according to a Powerball news release. If the winner picks the annuity option, they receive one payment immediately and then 29 annual payments, increasing by 5% each year.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, and the overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24.9.
Two Southern Californians have won the Powerball jackpot so far this year. One ticket worth $515 million was sold in Anaheim in March, and another worth $205 million was purchased two months later in Arleta.
California has been home to the first and third biggest Powerball payouts on record. In November 2022, Altadena resident Edwin Castro claimed a $2.04-billion prize. Less than a year later, in October 2023, Theodorus Struyck and a Frazier Park lottery pool secured a $1.765-billion jackpot.
Other notable jackpot wins include:
- A $1.586 billion jackpot in January 2016, won by three people, in California, Florida and Tennessee
- A $1.326 billion jackpot in April 2024
- A $1.08 billion jackpot in July 2023 in California
- An $842.4 million jackpot in January 2024 in Michigan
- A $768.4 million jackpot in March 2019 in Wisconsin
- A $758.7 million jackpot in August 2017 in Massachusetts
- A $754.6 million jackpot in Feb, 2023 in Washington
- A $731.1 million jackpot in January 2021 in Maryland
Tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with drawings broadcast every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
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