Powerball jackpot soars to $856 million, next drawing Saturday night
By Isa Mudannayake, CNN
(CNN) — Over a million tickets were sold as hopeful players tried their luck, but no one scored in Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot, sending the prize soaring to an estimated $856 million.
The next drawing for what would be the eighth highest jackpot in the game’s history is set for Saturday night. The cash value prize is $372 million.
While no one walked away with all six numbers to win Wednesday’s grand prize, one lucky person in Ohio won $1 million, according to the Powerball website.
The winning numbers Wednesday were 14, 20, 59, 60, 61 and red Powerball 25, with a Power Play multiplier of 2.
Wednesday’s jackpot was set at $794 million, with a cash value of $345.2 million. The jackpot has been growing for three consecutive months, according to Powerball.
The last jackpot was won on May 2 by two winners in Florida and Texas who split a $20 million prize, according to Powerball.
“We already had five Powerball jackpots won by tickets in seven states (this year) before this current jackpot run,” a spokesperson for the Multi-State Lottery Association told CNN. “As jackpots continue to rollover without a grand prize winner, player interest grows and contributes to a faster jackpot growth.”
Powerball expands to United Kingdom
The upcoming drawing comes as Powerball tickets became available in the United Kingdom for the first time last month through an agreement between the Multi-State Lottery Association and Allwyn UK, the owner of the country’s National Lottery.
This gives UK players the chance to jump into the running for larger jackpots than have previously been available.
“Whenever a new lottery or large player base joins the game, it can contribute to faster jackpot growth. Since the launch in the UK, ticket sales have continued to increase alongside the jackpot,” said the Multi-State Lottery Association spokesperson, while acknowledging that it is too early to draw broad conclusions about the expansion’s impact on the game.
In addition to the UK, Powerball is played in 45 US states as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
The all-time highest jackpot was just over $2 billion, drawn by a California resident in 2022.
This year has seen some sizeable prizes, with a $250.8 million jackpot won in Arkansas in March, followed by a prize of $230.8 million in Delaware the next month.
Jackpot winners can receive their prize in a lump sum or across 30 installments, which lotteries offer through an annuitized prize plan that takes interest into account.
The lump sum is paid to winners at once from the money in the jackpot pool, which is typically lower than the annuitized value.
Saturday’s $856 million figure would be before taxes, although some states, including California and Texas, don’t tax lottery winnings.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are approximately 1 in 292.2 million. Odds are more favorable for smaller cash prices.
Powerball drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.
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