The Powerball jackpot rose to an estimated $1.04 billion after the latest drawing on Saturday night ended without a winner — meaning no ticket matched all six numbers drawn during the play.
The estimated prize heading into the next Powerball drawing on Monday is just the fourth in the game’s history to surpass $1 billion. Jackpots that exceeded the threshold in the past include a $1.08 billion prize, which went to a ticket holder in California during a draw on July 19, 2023. It was the last time someone won the Powerball grand prize, and 32 consecutive rounds have played out since then without winner.
Powerball jackpots have climbed past the $1 billion mark two other times: once, in January 2016, when a $1.586 billion grand prize went to winning tickets purchased in California, Florida and Tennessee; and, again, in November 2022, when a ticket purchased in California won the largest Powerball jackpot ever with $2.04 billion.
The winning numbers drawn on Saturday were 19, 30, 37, 44 and 46, with a red Powerball number of 22, according to the game. Although no ticket matched all six numbers, some players did win smaller prizes after purchasing tickets with partial matches. Powerball said in a statement released Sunday morning that more than 2.5 million tickets purchased ahead of the latest draw won some form of monetary prize.
Five tickets, purchased in Florida, Maryland, Michigan and Pennsylvania, matched the first five numbers — all white balls — and earned $1 million prizes. Two other tickets, purchased in Indiana and North Carolina, matched the five white balls too, but they won $2 million prizes since ticket holders bought them with the Power Play multiplier, an add-on feature that costs an additional $1 but increases a winner’s earnings by whatever the “multiplier” factor is on a given night. The Power Play multiplier was 2x on Saturday.
Powerball drawings happen weekly on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights, beginning at 10:59 p.m. ET at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. The next Powerball drawing is set for Monday night, Oct. 2. Like past drawings, it will also be available to live stream on Powerball.com.
The estimated $1.04 billion Powerball jackpot has a cash value of $478.2 million. If there is a winner during Monday’s draw, that player, or players, will have the option to receive their prize in annual annuities, starting with one payment given out immediately and followed by yearly payments that increase by 5% each time.
The annuity prize is the option worth an estimated $1.04 billion, whereas the second option, a lump sump paid in full to the winner right away, is worth an estimated $478.2 million. Both are pretax estimates.
The Powerball jackpot reached $925 million in September after 30 consecutive drawings without a winner. The numbers on the Sept. 27 drawing were 1, 7, 46, 47, 63 and red Powerball 7 with a Power Play multiplier of 3X. The next drawing will be on Saturday, Sept. 30.
A player who wins the jackpot on Saturday can choose an annuitized prize worth an estimated $925 million or can take a lump sum, estimated to be $432.4 million.
The $925 million jackpot is now the fourth largest in Powerball history.
The largest Powerball jackpot ever won was a $2.04 billion ticket sold in California in November 2022. The second largest was $1.586 billion sold in California, Tennessee and Florida in January 2016.
Earlier this year, a winning ticket for the third jackpot to surpass $1 billion was sold – with a $1.98 billion Powerball jackpot won in California in July.
Some routine cleaning led a 75-year-old woman to a six-figure winning lottery ticket.
Two months after the numbers were drawn, while “going through papers,” a Springfield, Virginia woman found a forgotten Powerball ticket worth $100,000. She claimed her prize at the Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore last week, the Virginia Lottery reported.
“This is wonderful,” the womansaid upon collecting. “I am just blessed.”
The winning ticket was originally purchased on July 19 during Powerball’s frenzied rise that hit $1.08 billion — and was won that evening by a single-ticket winner in California.
The woman said she picked numbers at random before matching four and the Powerball, which secured the game’s $50,000 third-tier prize. But she had also opted for the Power Play with a 2X multiplier, which doubled her prize to $100,000. The winning numbers for the July 19 Powerball drawing were 7, 10, 11, 13, and 24, with the Powerball number also 24.
She intends to deposit her windfall into her bank account and consult with family members.
The next Powerball drawing is Wednesday night, September 27, with a jackpot of $835 million, the fourth-largest prize in the game’s history.
Mega Millions has upped the ante by another $100 million.
The winning numbers for the $720 million Mega Millions jackpot were revealed Friday night. The numbers were 29, 40, 47, 50 and 57 and a Mega Ball of 25.
But the lack of a jackpot winner in the lottery game’s latest drawing on Friday night sent the top prize soaring to an estimated $820 million for the next drawing, which will be held on Tuesday. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Tuesdays drawing is an estimated $422 million.
The potential jackpot is the fifth largest in the history of the game, Mega Millions said in a statement early Saturday.
There was no immediate word on whether any winning jackpot tickets had been sold.
The jackpot climbed after there were no winners in Tuesday’s $640 million drawing. There have been no Mega Millions jackpot winners since April 18.
Friday’s jackpot meanwhile marks the fifth-largest in Mega Millions history. A potential winner would have the choice of taking an estimated lump sum payment of $370.5 million before taxes, or the going with the annuity option, which consists of an immediate payment, followed by 29 annual payments.
Friday’s drawing resulted in eight tickets matching five white balls for a $1 million prize. Two each were sold in Florida, New Jersey and North Carolina, with one in California and another in Michigan, Mega Millions said.
There have been four Mega Millions jackpots north of $1 billion, with the largest being a $1.537 billion jackpot in October of 2018, with a single winning ticket sold in South Carolina.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are about one in 302.58 million.
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The winning numbers were 7, 10, 11, 13 and 24, with a Powerball of 24.
The ticket holder or holders will get to pick either a lump sum payment of $558.1 million or an annuity for the $1.08 billion. Both figures are before taxes.
Late ticket sales propelled the jackpot past its earlier estimate of $1 billion.
The drawing had more than 4.8 million winning tickets overall and lower-tier cash prizes worth $85.1 million.
It was the second time in eight months that a $1 billion Powerball ticket was sold in Los Angeles County, CBS News Los Angeles points out. In November, a lucky man at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena correctly guessed the numbers accompanying the world-record Powerball jackpot of $2.04 billion.
The jackpot had been swelling since April 19, when a ticket bought in Ohio won a $252.6 million jackpot. Before Wednesday night’s drawing, no one had matched the five white balls and red Powerball in the past 38 chances to win.
The $1.08 billion grand prize is the third largest in the game’s history since it started in 1992. Last year, a single ticket sold in California won the $2.04 billion world record jackpot, and the game’s second-largest grand prize of $1.586 billion was split among winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.
Earlier this year, a ticket sold in Washington state won a $754.6 million jackpot, the game’s sixth largest.
Wednesday night’s pot of gold was the sixth largest in U.S lottery history.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
In Mega Millions, an estimated $720 million jackpot is up for grabs Friday night after no one matched all six numbers in Tuesday night’s drawing. Those winning numbers were 19, 22, 31, 37, 54 with a Mega Ball of 18.
If someone wins Friday night, the cash option would be an estimated $369.6 million. The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.
The two jumbo-sized jackpots spurred some people to pool their money and buy tickets by the dozen in the hopes of winning big.
In Southern California, a woman bought 50 lottery tickets on Tuesday at a 7-Eleven for her and her co-workers, CBS News Los Angeles reported.
“I already told them today: If I win tonight, I’m not even coming in, for sure, they know,” the woman told the station. “My boss is in on this with me.”
Powerball tickets cost $2 each and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.
The Powerball jackpot rolled on Monday night, after the latest in a series of drawings spanning several months ended, again, without a winner taking it all. Lottery officials estimated that the massive prize fund climbed to $1 billion in the drawing’s aftermath, reaching a historic amount only seen twice before in the game’s history. In addition to ranking as the third-largest ultimate Powerball prize, the estimated jackpot is also the seventh-largest ever seen in the United States, according to Powerball.
As usual, the next drawing will be broadcast live from the Florida Lottery studio on Wednesday night, beginning at 10:59 p.m. ET, and will be available to stream in real time on Powerball.com. Until then, hopeful players can enter for a one-in-300-million chance — roughly — to win.
What is the current Powerball jackpot?
The jackpot rose to an estimated $1 billion after the most recent Powerball drawing on Monday night, lottery officials said in a news release. The prize fund, which will be up for grabs when the next drawing takes place on Wednesday, has an approximate cash value of $516.8 million.
Powerball’s elusive jackpot surpassed the billion-dollar threshold this week after the latest drawing yielded no winners — a pattern that has continued to develop as the lottery enters its 39th consecutive round without a single ticket matching all six numbers drawn in the contest. On Monday, a Powerball ticket would have needed to include the first five numbers drawn, which were 5, 8, 9, 17 and 41, plus the Powerball of 21, in order to qualify for the previous round’s grand prize, then estimated to be $922 million.
Although a Powerball player has yet to take home the jackpot in full, some ticket holders have received smaller prizes throughout what one lottery official called “a historic jackpot run” in a statement shared after Monday’s drawing. There are nine ways to win money by playing Powerball, and more than 2.8 million tickets qualified for lower-tier financial prizes on Monday, according to the lottery.
Among the night’s biggest winners were five tickets purchased in Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, New York and Pennsylvania, which matched all five white balls drawn but not the final Powerball. Each of those tickets earned a $1 million prize. Another three tickets, purchased in Arkansas, Georgia and Texas, also matched those first five numbers, but earned $2 million each because they had been purchased with the game’s Power Play option, which on Monday multiplied the base prize amount — of $1 million, in this case — by two.
Why does the Powerball jackpot increase over time?
Powerball drawings happen Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights each week at the Florida Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee. Although a number of factors influence the estimated value of a given jackpot, the prize fund is essentially determined by the number of buy-ins ahead of each drawing, meaning how many Powerball tickets are purchased nationwide. People can buy a Powerball ticket in 45 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, for $2 per ticket. Purchasing a ticket with the game’s Power Play option costs an additional $1.
The odds of winning a lower-tier prize in Powerball are slightly less than 1 in 25, but the odds of winning the jackpot in full are approximately 1 in 292 million, according to the game. Each time a drawing happens without a winner, the jackpot rolls over into the next round and grows as more people buy Powerball tickets in the interim. Since chances of winning the jackpot are so slim, the pot often has time to grow substantially over the course of a given lottery run.
Enormous lottery jackpots, in Powerball as well as Mega Millions, are becoming more common. A Powerball ticket in California won a $2 billion jackpot last November, and two Mega Millions tickets in Chicago won a $1.3 billion prize earlier in the fall. Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross, told CBS MoneyWatch in January that the bigger jackpots seen in recent years are not coincidental, but rather engineered by the lotteries themselves. The Multi-State Lottery Association, a non-profit organization that manages the Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries, has intentionally designed the games to generate larger sums of money, Matheson said.
The actual amount of money in the jackpot is the “cash value” advertised by the lottery, and it comes from a portion of Powerball ticket sales. But the annuitized option offered by Powerball allows the lottery to advertise the jackpot as the total amount that a jackpot winner would get, before taxes, if they chose to receive their prize in annual installments that increase by 5% each year over the course of 30 years. Whatever dollar amount Powerball gives the annuitized jackpot — this week, the lottery values it at an estimated $1 billion — includes the actual cash value plus interest over that 30-year period.
What are the largest Powerball jackpots ever won?
The largest Powerball jackpot ever won went to the California ticket holder who hit the $2.04 billion prize last November. Before that, three winners from California, Florida and Tennessee won the $1.586 billion prize in 2016. Another ticket purchased in Wisconsin hit the jackpot for $768.4 million in 2019, after someone in Massachusetts won a similar amount — $758.7 million — two years earlier. A winner from Wisconsin took home the jackpot prize this past February, when it stood at $754.6 million.
Do Powerball payouts get taxed?
Yes, Powerball payouts are subject to federal and jurisdictional income taxes, whether a winner chooses to receive their prize as a lump-sum payment or multiple payments given out in annual annuities. To start, both the advertised annuity and cash value of a lottery jackpot are estimates until all ticket sales are finalized leading up to a drawing, the lottery association says. The advertised annuity is finalized by the lottery commission, since they are considering how interest rates will change over 30 years.
The federal government will withhold 24% of a winner’s lottery prize as long as it exceeds $5,000, according to the Internal Revenue Service, which notes that federal taxes on lottery prizes are considered the same as gambling winnings. After that, another portion of the money may also go to state taxes, depending on where in the U.S. the winner lives. Some states, like California, Delaware, Florida, Tennessee and Texas, do not impose an additional tax on money won through the lottery. But most do, with New York withholding almost 9% of the winnings, which is the highest state tax on gambling or lottery prizes in the country.
Billion-dollar dreams are within reach as the Powerballjackpot skyrockets to a staggering $1 billion after no winning tickets were sold in Monday night’s drawing for a $900 million prize.
The new jackpot is the third-highest in the country’s history and will continue to grow until a winner emerges. The next Powerball drawing is Wednesday. Participants have the opportunity to win either $1 billion paid out over several years or a one-time lump sum of $516.8 million before taxes.
The highest recorded Powerball jackpot to date was $2.04 billion in November 2022. The winning ticket was sold in California. The second-highest jackpot was $1.6 billion in 2016, which was split among three winners — a couple in California, a woman in Florida and a couple in Tennessee.
Despite the high payouts, buying a winning Powerball ticket has remarkably low odds of 1 in 292.2 million, per NPR.
The most recent Powerball jackpot victory took place on April 19, with the grand prize amounting to nearly $253 million. However, since then, there have been 38 consecutive drawings without a winner.
The Powerball jackpot was $900 million in Monday’s drawing. Michele Sandberg | Getty Images
Powerball is played across 45 states, as well as in Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Before the $1 billion Powerball drawing on Wednesday, Mega Millions is drawing its $640 million jackpot on Tuesday. Winners will receive an annual payout or a lump sum of $328 million cash before taxes.
Although there was no Mega Millions jackpot winner in the latest drawing, South Carolina Lottery officials announced on Monday that someone purchased a $2 million winning ticket in Orangeburg, South Carolina at the Gaz-Bah gas station for Friday’s drawing. The ticket was purchased for $2.
The winning Mega Millions ticket matched all five numbers on the white balls that were drawn: 10, 24, 48, 51, 66 and the Megaball number 15. Additionally, the winner chose to add the Megaplier option for an additional dollar, which doubled the prize because the Megaplier number was 2. The fortunate individual now has 180 days to claim their prize, lottery officials wrote in the release.
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 numbers drawn Tuesday night were 5, 8, 9, 17, 41 and a Powerball of 21.
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.
Monday night’s jackpot increased to an estimated $900 million after nobody won Saturday night and surged again Monday as more people bought tickets.
Wednesday night’s jackpot would be the third-largest in Powerball history and seventh-highest in U.S. lottery history, trailing only the world record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won last year and the $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot won in 2016.
With the odds of winning just 1 in 292,201,338, there have been 38 drawings since the Powerball jackpot was last claimed in April.
Monday night’s drawing did have more than 2.8 million winning tickets, with buyers getting smaller cash prizes worth a combined $41.7 million, Powerball officials said.
If someone had won Monday night, they would have had the option to claim the $922 million in annual payouts or a lump sum cash payment of considerably less, according to Powerball. Both figures were before taxes.
Debbie Kempf, store director at Cosentino’s Price Chopper in St. Joseph, Missouri, said the store sees an increase in sales as the jackpot gets bigger.
“As it grows and the hype increases, you know, everyone gets kind of excited. So that’s where you get all those people who don’t generally buy tickets, think, ‘Why not? Why not me?’” Kempf said, adding that she also sees “your regulars” who buy tickets every week but may buy a few more as the jackpot increases.
“Sometimes you’ll see groups of people or families go together and pool their money and to purchase a larger amount — you know, more opportunity,” she said.
Winning Powerball numbers are drawn every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET. Powerball tickets cost $2 each. They’re sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Mega Millions lottery has also been steadily growing, with that estimated jackpot standing at $640 million as of Monday night. Mega Millions drawings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $875 million after there were no winners in Wednesday night’s $750 million drawing, which would have marked the sixth-largest prize in the game’s history.
Wednesday’s winning numbers were 23, 35, 45, 66, 67 and a Powerball of 20.
The last time somebody won the Powerball jackpot was back on April 19, when a ticket purchased in Ohio matched all six numbers to bring home a $252.6 million prize. There have been 35 drawings since then without a jackpot winner.
The biggest jackpot in both Powerball and U.S. lottery history was $2.04 billion, which was won last November by a man in California. That hightly-anticipated drawing was unexpectedly delayed when one of the participating states failed to submit its sales and play data in time.
A jackpot winner has the opportunity to collect their winnings in annual installments, or receive a lump sum cash payment, according to Powerball. If a winner opts for the annuity, they would receive an initial payment, followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year.
A single Powerball tickets costs $2, and the odds of winning the jackpot stand at just 1 in 292.2 million.
Drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday 10:59 p.m. ET.
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The Powerball jackpot reached an estimated $750 million for Wednesday night’s drawing, making it the sixth-largest prize in the game’s history.
The winning numbers were 23, 35, 45, 66, 67 and a Powerball of 20. It was still unclear if anyone had won the jackpot.
The jackpot had originally stood at $725 million after nobody won on Monday night, but that estimate was raised over the course of the next two days.
Should somebody win Wednesday night, they would have the opportunity to collect their winnings in annual installments or receive a lump sum cash payment of $378.8 million before taxes, according to Powerball. If a winner opts for the annuity, they would receive an initial payment, followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year.
The last time somebody won the Powerball jackpot was back on April 19, when a ticket purchased in Ohio matched all six numbers to bring home a $252.6 million prize. There have been 35 drawings since then without a jackpot winner.
The biggest jackpot in both Powerball and U.S. lottery history was $2.04 billion, which was won last November by a man in California. That hightly-anticipated drawing was unexpectedly delayed when one of the participating states failed to submit its sales and play data in time.
A single Powerball tickets costs $2, and the odds of winning the jackpot stand at just 1 in 292.2 million.
Drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday 10:59 p.m. ET.
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The Minnesota Lottery said Thursday that a technical issue with its two-tiered verification process was to blame for the unprecedented delay in this week’s record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot drawing.
Someone who bought a ticket in Southern California had all of the winning numbers, becoming the Powerball’s first jackpot winner in more than three months.
But Monday night’s multi-state drawing was delayed by nearly 10 hours — until Tuesday morning — while lottery officials addressed the problem.
Officials with the Minnesota Lottery said Thursday that it had an issue with its two-tiered verification system, which is operated by outside vendors. The lottery said the system is designed to make sure that every purchased lottery ticket has a fair and equal chance of winning.
The Minnesota Lottery said one vendor is responsible for printing tickets and recording each transaction to verify each ticket is authentic; another vendor is responsible for checking the work of the first. Every night, before a drawing can happen, the two systems must “balance” — meaning that every data entry must be transmitted between the two and match perfectly, the Minnesota Lottery said.
Outside Joe’s Service Center, a Mobil gas station in Altadena — an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County in California — which sold the winning ticket for the record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot. Nov. 8, 2022.
Dean Musgrove/Los Angeles Daily News/Getty Images
On Monday night, the two systems couldn’t communicate in real time so there was a delay in getting them to balance, the Minnesota Lottery said. Officials worked on the issue for hours, then realized that data from the entire day’s sales needed to be reprocessed, which took another 5 1/2 hours.
“While we were disappointed to delay the national drawing, the integrity and accuracy of our games always take priority,” the Minnesota Lottery said in a statement, adding: “At no time was the sales data or the game compromised.”
The Minnesota Lottery apologized, but added: “Any error in the drawing would have been worse than the actual delay.”
The $2.04 billion jackpot was by far the largest lottery prize ever won, topping the previous record $1.586 billion prize won by three Powerball ticketholders in 2016. Only four previous jackpots have topped $1 billion, but none of those are close to the current prize, which started at $20 million back on Aug. 6 and has grown over three winless months. No one had won the jackpot since Aug. 3.
The $2.04 billion prize is for a winner who chooses an annuity, paid annually over 29 years. Nearly all winners opt for cash, which was valued at $997.6 million.
The jackpot ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, an unincorporated community in the foothills northeast of Los Angeles. For selling the winning ticket, business owner Joe Chahayed will receive a maximum Powerball bonus of $1 million.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The game is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Someone who bought a Powerball ticket won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot Tuesday — and the owner of the Southern California business that sold the lucky ticket is getting a hefty sum himself.
The jackpot ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, an unincorporated community in the foothills northeast of Los Angeles. For selling the winning ticket, business owner Joe Chahayed will receive a Powerball bonus of $1 million.
“I’m very surprised. Very excited. Very happy,” said Chahayed, who wore a bright yellow California Lottery shirt and cap.
Joe Chahayed, owner of Joe’s Service Center, the Mobil gas station at Woodbury Road and Fair Oaks Avenue in Altadena, is the man who sold the $2.04 billion-winning Powerball ticket. He is seen meeting the media on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.
Dean Musgrove/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images
Chahayed said he didn’t know who won the giant prize but hopes it’s someone local.
“I wish I knew the person but most people who buy tickets from me are from the neighborhood. I hope one of them will be the winner,” he said.
Chahayed said he would spend his $1 million on his five children and donate some to the community.
“My son is expecting a baby in two months, so we are excited!” said Chahayed said, according to CBS Los Angeles. “We can have a nice celebration for another baby. I have 10 grandchildren.”
In the meantime, Chahayed is relishing the moment after emigrating to Los Angeles from Syria in the 1980s, the station reported. He came with his wife, two kids and around $14,000 to his name.
“I never collect welfare, I never collect Medicare, I never collect any money from the government. All what I do, I work hard, seven days a week. I raised my kids, graduated from the college and bought a house and I bought a business all because I work hard and become an honest man,” Chahayed said.
The jackpot was by far the largest lottery jackpot ever won, topping the previous record $1.586 billion prize won by three Powerball ticketholders in 2016.
Powerball announced Tuesday a single winning ticket was sold in California for a world-record $2.04 billion jackpot. The announcement came after a lengthy delay in revealing the winning numbers.
The winning numbers are 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56 with a Powerball of 10. California lottery officials said on Twitter the winning ticket was sold at a service center in the Los Angeles County community of Altadena.
California Lottery makes its FIRST EVER Billionaire! One lucky ticket sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena matched all 6 numbers in the November 7 #Powerball draw. The final jackpot amount for this draw came to $2.04 BILLION dollars. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/9mSEAh18s1
“Congratulations, to the lucky ticket holder in California and the millions of other Powerball players who won other prizes in the drawing,” Powerball Product Group Chair Drew Svitko said in a statement. “On behalf of participating lotteries, I would like to thank our players who joined us on this historic jackpot run. A portion of every Powerball ticket purchased will stay in your state to support your local communities.”
Winners have the option of collecting the grand prize as an annuity spread over 29 years or a one-time cash payment. The cash option was $997.6 million, according to the statement.
Nearly two dozen tickets came close to the grand prize. According to Powerball, 22 tickets won $1 million by matching five numbers but not the Powerball. In Florida, one ticket won an extra $1 million because the player bought the Power Play option.
The latest numbers were supposed to be revealed Monday night but the announcement was delayed until Tuesday morning. In a statement, Powerball officials said the drawing was delayed because one unidentified lottery wasn’t able to “process its sales and play data.”
Until Tuesday, the jackpot had eluded players since Aug. 3. It surpassed the previous world-record grand prize of $1.586 billion in the run-up to Saturday’s drawing, which had a jackpot of $1.6 billion.
When no one won over the weekend, the jackpot swelled to an estimated $1.9 billion leading up to Monday night. Officials said Tuesday the grand prize for the latest drawing turned out to be $2.04 billion.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story misattributed a report from Powerball.net that there was was no jackpot winner to Powerball. The story has been corrected.
Des Moines, Iowa — The Powerball drawing for the world-record $1.9 billion jackpot scheduled for Monday night was delayed —and it’s likely that the official results won’t be known until later on Tuesday, the Multi-State Lottery Association said in a statement.
“Powerball requires all 48 participating lotteries to submit their sales and play data prior to the winning numbers being selected. Once Powerball receives the outstanding submission, the drawing can proceed,” the association said.
The state having the issues wasn’t named.
On Tuesday morning, the association said in a new statement that Powerball was “in communication with the lottery throughout the night as it works to resolve the issue.”
“Like the rest of America, Powerball is eager to hold its drawing for the world record jackpot, however, protecting the integrity of the draw is of upmost importance, even if that means a further delay,” the statement said.
California lottery officials tweeted additional information:
The winning numbers and recorded video of the drawing will be posted to the Powerball website and YouTube channel. Players should hold onto their tickets, the Multi-State Lottery Association statement said.
Only four previous jackpots have topped $1 billion, but none were even close to the current one, which started at $20 million back on Aug. 6 and over three winless months has grown ever more massive. No one has won the jackpot since Aug. 3.
A winner who chooses an annuity, paid annually over 29 years, would get the estimated $1.9 billion payout. Nearly all winners instead opt for cash, which for Monday’s drawing would be $929.1 million.
All prize amounts are before taxes.
Even as more people attracted by the giant prize drop $2 on a Powerball ticket, the game’s ultra-long odds of 1 in 292.2 million means there still is a good chance that another drawing will pass without anyone winning the grand prize. That would push the jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing to more than $2 billion.
Those who spend $2 on a Powerball ticket might wonder if something is wrong when 40 drawings pass without a jackpot winner, but this is how the game is designed: The odds of 1 in 292 million make it unlikely anyone will win the prize until a growing jackpot attracts more players. And more ticket sales mean the lottery can raise more money for public programs, which is the point of the state lotteries. Still, it’s been an awful long time without a jackpot and if there isn’t a winner some time Tuesday now because of the delay, another kind of record will have been reached: 41 draws without anyone matching all six numbers.
The game is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 each.
Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET and are live streamed at Powerball.com.
When a Powerball ticket is purchased, the player is asked to choose five numbers between 1 and 69, and one number between 1 and 26, for a total of six figures printed on a play slip. Those who would rather not select numbers themselves can opt for the lottery terminal to choose their numbers randomly.
Smaller prizes are given out to players who hold tickets with numbers that partially match the sequence announced during a drawing. In order to win the jackpot, a ticket must match all six numbers, including the final Powerball number.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million, and there isn’t much a player can do to increase those chances, according to one expert.
Sure, buying multiple tickets at once does increase a player’s odds slightly, but that strategy also requires spending more upfront while running the risk of having to split the payout with another winner, Harvard University statistician Mark Glickman told CBS News.
“Even if you’re buying 50 tickets, the likelihood is that you’re almost certain to still lose and not win the jackpot,” Glickman said. “In fact, the chance at winning even $4 by playing is still pretty small.”
No winner since August
The Powerball jackpot rose to $1.9 billion over the weekend, setting another record after no player won the grand prize in the last drawing on Saturday. The next Powerball drawing is set to take place on Monday night, as it does weekly, beginning just before 11 p.m. Eastern time.
Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday night from the lottery draw studio in Tallahassee, Florida.
The last grand prize went to a winning ticket sold in Pennsylvania in early August, and the prize fund has been increasing since then. On Saturday, the winning numbers were 28, 45, 53, 56 and 69, with a Powerball of 20. It marked the 40th Powerball drawing since the last jackpot win. If no one wins during Monday night’s drawing, this Powerball run will become the longest in the game’s history without a grand prize winner.
If one or more Powerball tickets win on Monday, the estimated jackpot’s cash value stands at $929.1 million, according to the lottery. As usual, winners can choose to collect their prize as either a lump sum payment, which can be collected in full after applicable taxes are taken out, or as an annuity, which is paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years.
Do “lucky” numbers work?
Of course, the likelihood of one person winning it all is vanishingly small. Statistically speaking, a Powerball player has a far better chance of being attacked by a grizzly bear at Yellowstone National Park — about 1 in 2.7 million, according to the National Park Service — or of finding a blue lobster in the ocean (1 in 2 million).
Massive lottery jackpots have become more common in recent years as lottery officials adjust game rules and ticket prices to pump up the top prizes. The most recent tweak came in August when Powerball officials added an additional drawing day — going from two drawings a week to three — in an effort to boost prizes and lottery ticket sales.
Glickman said the best number-picking strategy is to have no strategy at all. A computer randomly generates the winning digits, so he suggests avoiding techniques such as picking numbers tied to a birthday or anniversary. It’s better to use a random ticket number generator — also known as quick picks — because those machines better match what the Powerball might do, Glickman said.
“Really the best thing you can do is be level-headed about it [and] not buy too many tickets because you’re throwing away your money,” he said. “The key is to pick your picks at random because that will lower your chances of splitting the money with other people.”
Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.
The Powerball jackpot rose to $1.9 billion over the weekend, setting another record after no player won the grand prize in the last drawing on Saturday. The next Powerball drawing is set to take place on Monday night, as it does weekly, beginning just before 11 p.m. Eastern time.
Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday night from the lottery draw studio in Tallahassee, Florida.
Anticipation over the lottery’s estimated prize fund has grown steadily over the past three months, as dozens of Powerball rounds passed without anyone taking home the jackpot in full. The last grand prize went to a winning ticket sold in Pennsylvania in early August, and the prize fund has been increasing since then.
How to play Powerball
Interested players can purchase Powerball tickets, sold at $2 per play, in 45 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to lottery officials. But, while the odds of winning any prize during a Powerball drawing are said to be roughly 1 in 25, a player’s chances of securing the jackpot are significantly lower, at about 1 in 292 million, officials say.
When a Powerball ticket is purchased, the player is asked to choose five numbers between 1 and 69, and one number between 1 and 26, for a total of six figures printed on a play slip. Those who would rather not select numbers themselves can opt for the lottery terminal to choose their numbers randomly.
Smaller prizes are given out to players who hold tickets with numbers that partially match the sequence announced during a drawing. In order to win the jackpot, a ticket must match all six numbers called, including the final Powerball number.
On Saturday, the winning numbers were 28, 45, 53, 56 and 69, with a Powerball of 20. It marked the 40th Powerball drawing since the last jackpot win in August. If no one wins during Monday night’s drawing, this Powerball run will become the longest in the game’s history without a grand prize winner.
If one or more Powerball tickets win on Monday, the estimated jackpot’s cash value stands at $929.1 million, according to the lottery. As usual, winners can choose to collect their prize as either a lump sum payment, which can be collected in full after applicable taxes are taken out, or as an annuity, which is paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years.
The new $1.9 billion jackpot is for a winner who is paid through an annuity over 29 years. Winners of lottery jackpots usually prefer a lump sum of cash, which for Monday’s drawing would be $929.1 million, the California lottery site said.
The Powerball prize keeps getting more massive because of the inability of anyone to overcome the long odds of 1 in 292.2 million and win the jackpot. To take the top prize, players must match all five white balls and one red Powerball.
Since someone won the prize on Aug. 3, there have been 40 drawings without a winner.
Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Powerball jackpot grew to a $1.6 billion ahead of Saturday night’s drawing, officials announced. The winning numbers Saturday were 28, 45, 53, 56, 69 and a Powerball of 20. It was still unclear if any winning tickets were sold.
If the figure holds and someone indeed wins the grand prize, it would set a new record for the largest lottery prize ever.
A winner has the option to receive the prize as an annuity spread over 29 years or as a lump-sum payment of $782.4 million, officials said.
The jackpot has eluded players since Aug. 3, the last time anyone matched all five winning numbers and the Powerball. The winning numbers in Wednesday night’s drawing were 2, 11, 22, 35, 60 with a Powerball of 23.
The odds of winning it all are 1 in 292.2 million.
Highest Powerball jackpot ever
Since 2016, the highest Powerball jackpot has been a world-record $1.586 billion, which was split among winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.
Mega Millions drawing days
Mega Millions is a different multistate lottery game, and its drawings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. ET. Earlier this year, two people who won a $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot chose to take a lump sum payment of $780.5 million. For Friday night’s drawing, the estimated jackpot was $119 million.
The Powerball jackpot grew to an estimated $1.6 billion Friday morning, officials announced. If the estimated figure holds after Saturday night’s drawing and someone wins the grand prize, it would set a new record for the largest lottery prize ever.
A winner has the option to receive the prize as an annuity spread over 29 years or as a lump-sum payment of $782.4 million, officials said.
The jackpot has eluded players since Aug. 3, the last time anyone matched all five winning numbers and the Powerball. The winning numbers in Wednesday night’s drawing were 2, 11, 22, 35, 60 with a Powerball of 23.
The odds of winning it all are 1 in 292.2 million.
When is the next Powerball drawing?
The next Powerball drawing will be held Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Florida Lottery in Tallahassee at 10:59 p.m. ET.
Ticket sales are usually cut off between one and two hours before the drawing, Powerball officials said. In New York, for example, tickets can be purchased until 10 p.m. on the night of a drawing.
Highest Powerball jackpot ever
Since 2016, the highest Powerball jackpot has been a world-record $1.586 billion, which was split among winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.
Mega Millions drawing days
Mega Millions is a different multistate lottery game, and its drawings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. ET. Earlier this year, two people who won a $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot chose to take a lump sum payment of $780.5 million. For Friday night’s drawing, the estimated jackpot was $119 million.
