Lottery fever is spiking!
Will a $2 Powerball ticket make you a billionaire? As they say in the lottery business, “it could happen to you.”
After no one matched all five numbers plus the Powerball in the Wednesday, Aug. 27, Powerball drawing, the grand prize jumped $100 million overnight. Ticket sales ahead of the Saturday, Aug. 30, draw pushed the total into record numbers: The Powerball grand prize rose from $750 million with a cash option of $338.6 million on Monday, Aug. 25, to an $850 million grand prize or a cash option of $383.7 million for Wednesday. Then it spiked to $950 million early Thursday, hours after the Aug. 27 drawing. On Friday, Aug. 29, a day before the Aug. 30 drawing, the jackpot rose to a whopping $1 billion. The total is now in the Top 10 biggest Powerball lottery jackpots of all-time (see below).
The Powerball jackpot for Saturday climbed to $1 billion, with a cash option of $453.1 million.
Check back after 11 p.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 30, for winning Powerball numbers. We’ll see if there’s a billion-dollar lottery winner this holiday weekend or another chance at a higher prize.
In case you’re wondering, Wednesday, Aug. 27, winning Powerball numbers were 9-12-22-41-61 and the Powerball was 25. Power Play was 4x. Though it resulted in a rollover, it wasn’t all bad news: There were six big winners in Wednesday’s Powerball drawing. Three of those, with tickets purchased in Mississippi, Ohio and Virginia, matched 5 plus the Power Play for $2 million prizes. Three other tickets matched 5 for $1 million prizes. The latter were bought in Arizona, New York and Virginia.
In case you’re wondering, Monday, Aug. 25, winning Powerball numbers were 16-19-34-37-64 and the Powerball was 22. Power Play was 3x. Those numbers produced a rollover, but it wasn’t all bad news: A pair of tickets from Georgia and Texas matched five numbers to nab $1 million.
What are the odds? Florida Lottery game drawing has consecutive numbers: 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9
Tickets start at $2 a piece. Below is what to know about lottery odds, how long to claim the cash option if you bought a ticket in Florida, and what happens to unclaimed prize money, according to the Florida Lottery.
Good luck!
What were the winning Powerball numbers for Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025?
Powerball drawings are at 11 p.m. ET Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, including holidays. Check back for Saturday, Aug. 30, winning Powerball numbers. We’ll see if there’s a billion-dollar lottery winner or another rollover.
The Aug. 30 drawing is the first billion-dollar lottery jackpot for Mega Millions and Powerball for 2025.
Where it was sold: Winning Powerball ticket for $515 million jackpot purchased at 7-Eleven near Disney
After weeks of rollovers, the last Powerball streak ended Saturday, May 31, 2025, when a ticket in California matched all five numbers plus the Powerball to win an estimated $207 million jackpot. That prize had a cash option of $92.7 million, according to the Powerball website.
Tickets purchased in Florida and New Hampshire also won big, they both matched 5 plus the Power Play for $2 million prizes. The Florida Quick Pick ticket came from Peacock Liquor, 270 N.W. Peacock Blvd., Port St. Lucie.
On Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, a day before the Aug. 30, 2025, Powerball drawing, lottery officials announced this series crossed the billion-dollar mark. On Wednesday, Aug. 27, the jackpot jumped to $950 million, and ticket sales ahead of the Aug. 30 drawing pushed it to record numbers.
Below is a recap of Powerball drawings and how long it took to grow from $20 million to the current billion-dollar prize.
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Saturday, Aug. 30: $1 billion
Grand prize indeed! Powerball winner Edwin Castro publicly claimed $2.04 billion jackpot — on Valentine’s Day
When is the next Powerball drawing? What are the chances of winning Powerball lottery?
Powerball drawings are held at 11 p.m. ET Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, including holidays. According to Powerball.com, players have a 1 in 292.2 million chance to match all six numbers. Prizes range from $2 to the grand prize jackpot, which varies.
The next Powerball drawing will be on the Labor Day holiday, Monday, Sept. 1.
A $1.586 billion Powerball tale: From a small town to ‘Today’ show with Savannah Guthrie to $6.2 million home
Prizes for Florida Lottery must be claimed within 180 days (six months) from the date of the drawing. To claim a single-payment cash option, a winner has within the first 60 days after the applicable draw date to claim it.
The Florida Lottery says its scratch-off tickets and Fast Play game prizes “must be claimed within 60 days of the official end-of-game date. Once the applicable time period has elapsed, the related Florida Lottery ticket will expire.”
Can Florida lottery winners remain anonymous?
According to Florida Lottery’s website, winners cannot remain anonymous: “Florida law mandates that the Florida Lottery provide records containing information such as the winner’s name, city of residence; game won, date won, and amount won to any third party who requests the information.”
However, the site states, the “names of lottery winners claiming prizes of $250,000 or greater will be temporarily exempt from public disclosure for 90 days from the date the prize is claimed, unless otherwise waived by the winner.”
Lottery experts and lawyers have said there are ways to remain anonymous if you win.
Who won, how long did it take to win Powerball, Mega Millions and those billion-dollar jackpots?
What are the Top 10 biggest Powerball jackpots in history?
Here are the Top 10 Powerball jackpots in the history of the game as of Aug. 30, 2025:
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10. $754.6 million — Feb. 6, 2023; Washington
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9. $758.7 million — Aug. 23, 2017; Massachusetts
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8. $768.4 million — March 27, 2019; Wisconsin
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6. $1 billion — Aug. 30, 2025; TBD
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4. $1.33 billion — April 6, 2024; Oregon
When did lotto jackpots hit $1 billion or more for Mega Millions and Powerball? What are the biggest lottery jackpots in US history?
As of Aug. 30, 2025, there have been 13 lottery jackpots that have reached or surpassed $1 billion. Only once has a jackpot surpassed $2 billion. These are the biggest lottery jackpots in U.S. history.
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$1.58 billion Mega Millions prize, Aug. 8, 2023, Saltines Holdings LLC of Miami, Florida
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$1.537 billion Mega Millions prize, Oct. 23, 2018, won by an anonymous player in South Carolina
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$1.348 billion Mega Millions prize, Jan. 13, 2023, LaKoma Island Investments, LLC, with the ticket purchased in Lebanon, Maine
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$1.337 billion Mega Millions prize, July 29, 2022, won by an anonymous partnership with a ticket purchased in Des Plaines, Illinois
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$1.326 billion Powerball prize, April 6, 2024, Cheng and Duanpen Saephan and Laiza Chao of Oregon
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$1.128 billion Mega Millions prize, March 26, 2024, won by an anonymous winner in New Jersey with the ticket purchased at ShopRite Liquor No. 781 in Neptune Township, New Jersey
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$1.08 billion Powerball prize, July 19, 2023, Yanira Alvarez of California
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$1.050 billion Mega Millions prize, Jan. 22, 2021, won by the Wolverine FLL Club of Oakland County, Michigan
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$1 billion Powerball prize, Aug. 30, 2025, TBD
(This story will be updated to include new information.)
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Powerball winner for $1 billion jackpot? Numbers for Saturday, Aug. 30