Powerball players hope to hit $760 million jackpot to start new year
Powerball is on a tear this year, with the jackpot topping $700 million for the fourth time in 2023.
The Powerball jackpot hasn't been won since the Oct. 11 drawing, when a ticket sold in California won $1.765 billion, the second-largest Powerball jackpot ever and the U.S. The second largest lottery jackpot in history.
Since this win, 33 draws have been made, but no ticket has matched all five white numbers and the red Powerball. Many lottery dreamers are hoping to end their jackpot lottery streak when the next drawing takes place at the Florida Lottery Draw Studio in Tallahassee on Saturday, December 30 at 10:59 PM ET.
If they win, the winner can choose to receive the full prize, a 30-year annuity, or a one-time cash option worth an estimated $382.5 million. Both amounts are before federal and possible state taxes.
The odds of a ticket matching the six winning numbers are just 1 in 292.2 million. But the odds of winning are 1 in 24.9, and your best chance is to buy a ticket worth twice the $2.
The projected $760 million jackpot is Powerball's sixth-largest ever.
Top 10 Powerball Jackpots
- $2.04 billion – November 7, 2022 – California
- $1.765 billion – October 11, 2023 – California
- $1.586 billion – January 13, 2016 – California, Florida, Tennessee
- $1.08 billion – July 19, 2023 – California
- $768.4 million – March 27, 2019 – Wisconsin
- US$760 million (estimate) – December 30, 2023
- $758.7 million – August 23, 2017 – MA
- $754.6 million – February 6, 2023 – Western Australia
- $731.1 million – January 20, 2021 – MD
- $699.8 million – October 4, 2021 – Approx.
Powerball Summary
Although no ticket won the Powerball jackpot in Wednesday's drawing, two tickets matched the five white balls but not the red Powerball to win $1 million. One game has the optional $1 Power Play add-on, which doubles the price to $2 million.
Another 34 tickets matched 4 of the 5 white balls and the Powerball, with each ticket offering a prize of $50,000. Another 8 players made the same setup using Power Play and tripled their winnings to $150,000 after reaching 3x on Power Play. Regardless of the outcome of the Power Play, Powerball's second-largest prize of $1 million can only be doubled.
A total of 1,632,024 tickets were won on Wednesday night. The majority of the winnings (1,293,296) were $4 bonuses.
The redemption clock is ticking
In Pennsylvania, lottery officials said the redemption period for the $1 million Powerball prize is about to expire.
The Pennsylvania Lottery released a statement this week saying tickets for the Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023 drawing were sold at a gas station at 199 W. Germantown Pike in Plymouth Meeting. Powerball winners in Pennsylvania have up to a year to redeem their prizes.
By law, if no one claims the winnings, the winnings will be donated to the State Lottery Fund, which provides support to Pennsylvania’s elderly residents with property tax and rent reimbursement, transportation, nursing services, prescription assistance and meals.
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Source: www.casino.org
