The Powerball lottery jackpot in the United States has risen to $1 billion after no one won for the 38th time in a row, officials say, making it one of the largest jackpots in history.
Powerball Lottery
According to the Multi-State Lottery Association, the estimated jackpot for the next drawing, which will take place on Wednesday night, has risen to at least $1 billion, with a cash value of $516.8 million. Both figures are expected to rise further.
During Monday’s drawing, when the grand prize was estimated to be $922 million, some people came close to winning the jackpot. The winning numbers were 5, 8, 9, 17, 41, and the Powerball number was 21.
According to the lottery association, eight tickets sold in eight different states (AR, CT, FL, GA, KY, NY, PA, and TX) matched 5 out of 6 numbers, earning them $1 million each. Three of them paid an additional $1 for Power Play, which doubled their prize to $2 million.
“The Monday drawing produced more than 2.8 million winning tickets nationwide, with players winning lower-tier cash prizes worth a combined $41.7 million,” the lottery said in a statement.
The billion-dollar jackpot comes at a time when the Mega Millions jackpot is also unusually high: $640 million for Tuesday’s drawing. Both jackpots are expected to increase sales in the coming days.
On April 19, someone in Ohio won $252.6 million in the Powerball jackpot. Since then, there have been 38 consecutive Powerball drawings in which no one has won the jackpot.
Powerball tickets are available in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. They are $2 each. The likelihood of winning the jackpot is one in 292 million.
The jackpot is paid out in 30 installments over 29 years, but winners can opt for a smaller prize – the cash value – which is paid out immediately. Federal and state taxes apply to both prizes.
Wednesday’s jackpot, at $1 billion, will be the seventh-largest in history and the third-largest Powerball jackpot, trailing only the world record $2.04 billion prize last year and the $1.586 billion jackpot in 2016.
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