On Wednesday, the 33rd consecutive drawing of the multi-state Powerball lottery game produced no jackpot winner, resulting in the game's jackpot increasing to an incredible $1.4 billion.
Whoever wins can opt for a lump-sum payment of $643.7 million in cash, more than half a billion dollars, for the next drawing on Oct. 7. Saturday's Powerball jackpot is now the 3rd largest ever, and the 5th largest in U.S. history.
In 2023, lottery jackpots have already surpassed the billion-dollar mark four times, with two instances in Mega Millions and two in Powerball.
"This marks the first time in Powerball game history that back-to-back jackpot cycles have generated billion-dollar grand prizes," Lottery Executive Director Eric Hagler said in a press release. "The Powerball jackpot was previously won on July 19 for $1.08 billion. Since then, there have been 32 consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner."
Wednesday's Double Play drawing had the winning numbers 12, 30, 39, 64, 67, and Powerball 22. Play Double Play in 14 states for extra cash, with a chance to win up to $10 million for $1 per play.
Unfortunately, nobody won the big jackpot, but ten players won $1 million each by matching the first five numbers on Wednesday. Two of the winners were from California and will each receive a prize of $1,220,123.
Three second-prize tickets were purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1 per play, doubling their prizes to $2 million. One of the tickets was sold in Kentucky, one in Pennsylvania, and another in Texas.
In the Wednesday drawing, 94 tickets also won money by matching four white numbers and the Powerball, earning a prize of $50,000 each. Of the 94 tickets, 13 players had chosen the Power Play option, doubling their prize money to $100,000 each. Moreover, 14 of the winning tickets were sold in California, where the prize for this draw was worth $17,500.
A new survey suggests that the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots have been breaking records lately due to the ability for buyers to purchase tickets online and the addition of an extra day.
The winning numbers for the Oct. 4, drawing, with a grand prize of $1.2 billion, were 9, 35, 54, 63, and 64. The Powerball number that sealed the win was 1, and the Power Play number was 2. These numbers would have made someone a millionaire.
After Wednesday's drawing, the estimated jackpot for Powerball was increased to $1.4 billion on an annuity basis, with a cash value of $868 million, according to lottery officials.