Powerball

Powerball jackpot is biggest lottery prize in over 8 months

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The biggest lottery prize in more than eight months is up for grabs in Saturday night’s Powerball drawing.

The winning numbers are 28, 38, 42, 47 and 52. The Powerball is 1.

Saturday’s jackpot is the 10th largest in US lottery history, Powerball announced Friday. The drawing is Powerball’s sixth-largest ever.

The Powerball jackpot has slowly climbed to an estimated $635 million thanks to 39 consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner, a record streak for the game dating back to June 5. There hasn’t been a bigger Powerball jackpot since a $731.1 million prize was won on Jan. 20. Saturday’s grand prize would be the 10th largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever won.

The jackpot was last hit in June and has since grown for four months, according to Powerball. The cash value of one winning ticket would be $450 million.

“When the jackpot reaches this level, we have more players jumping into the game, so we are continuously reviewing ticket sales to provide an up-to-date jackpot estimate,” Powerball Product Group Chair and Missouri Lottery Executive Director May Scheve Reardon said in a statement.

The record for the largest jackpot in US lottery history is just north of $1.5 billion.

Since Aug. 23, Powerball drawings have been held three times a week to increase interest and grow prizes more quickly. Drawings are held each Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. EDT.

The estimated jackpot amount refers to winners who opt to be paid through an annuity over 29 years. Most winners prefer the cash option, which for Saturday’s drawing would be an estimated $450 million before taxes.

Powerball is played in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Tickets worth $1 million were purchased in Florida, New York, Wisconsin, Indiana. A ticket sold in California is valued at $1,361,359. California lottery prizes vary depending on ticket sales and number of winners. They differ from the fixed second prizes offered in other participating states.

Second-prize tickets bought in Michigan, Ohio and Oklahoma are worth $2 million apiece because the winners spent an extra $1 for the Power Play option.

In addition, three $50,000 tickets were sold in New Jersey. The third-prize tickets matched four numbers plus the Powerball.
Wednesday’s winning numbers were: 2, 7, 11, 17 and 32. The Powerball drawn was 11 with a Power Play of 3X.

No one hit the secondary $10 million Double Play drawing on Wednesday. Those winning numbers were: 3, 19, 29, 50 and 58. The Double Play Powerball was: 3.

The odds of hitting the Powerball jackpot are 292,201,388 to 1. A player who buys a $2 ticket has about a 1 in 11,688,053 chance to match five numbers and win at least $1 million, while the odds are 913,129 to 1 of winning the third prize of at least $50,000.

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