Update: Powerball jackpot soars to estimated $1 billion as lottery frenzy grows
SACRAMENTO -- No winning tickets were sold for Monday night's $922 million Powerball jackpot, lottery officials said, so the grand prize for Wednesday night's drawing will be an estimated $1 billion.
The cash value for Wednesday night's pot of gold would be roughly $516.8 million as things stand now.
But jackpots increase if ticket sales surge ahead of drawings so Wednesday night's jackpot could well top $1 billion.
The California Lottery Twitter account posted shortly after 8 p.m. that the winning numbers were 5-8-9-17-41 with the Power number 21.
The last time somebody won the Powerball jackpot was in April. The $922 million is the third-largest prize in the game's history.
The winning numbers for Saturday's drawing were 2, 9, 43, 55 and 57, and the Powerball was 18. While there was no jackpot winner in Saturday's drawing, two tickets sold in Texas and one sold in Colorado matched all five white balls. Those players are eligible to claim $1 million prizes.
If a Powerball player wins on Monday, that person will have a choice between an annuitized prize worth an estimated $900 million or a lump sum payment estimated at $465.1 million, according to lottery officials. If a winner picks the annuitized prize, the lottery makes one immediate payment and then doles 29 out annual payments that increase by 5% each year.
A California player took home Powerball's largest-ever prize — a record-high $2.04 billion jackpot — in a November 2022 drawing.
The Mega Millions jackpot, now at an estimated $640 million, is also on the rise. The next drawing is Tuesday. That jackpot is the seventh largest in Mega Millions history. Tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 each. The drawings are conducted at 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Powerball tickets are also available in 45 U.S. states, in addition to Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. EST. The drawings are also live-streamed on Powerball.com.
Powerball tickets are $2 per play. Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds from the sale of a Powerball ticket remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. Powerball drawings are also live-streamed on Powerball.com.
