The Powerball Lottery Reaches Its Third-Largest Prize Ever
The upcoming Powerball contest has an estimated jackpot of $875 million, making it the third-most lucrative prize in the game's history. This is thanks to a 36th consecutive rollover, with the last winning ticket missing out on the jackpot on Wednesday night. The Multi-State Lottery Association anticipates a massive influx of players for Saturday's drawing.
The $875 million jackpot incorporates a cash value of approximately $441.9 million. The cash prize from Wednesday's drawing was $367.9 million, so the revenue generated between Wednesday and Saturday is predicted to exceed $100 million.
Approximately 68% of each $2 Powerball entry contributes towards the cash-sum jackpot. The advertised jackpot is for a 30-year annuity, which relies on the Federal Reserve's benchmark interest rate.
Lotteries such as Powerball and Mega Millions distribute their annuity jackpots through Treasury-guaranteed bonds. The rates on these bonds are determined by the federal interest rate, resulting in accelerated jackpots with rising interest rates.
Ranking Among the Top 10
Saturday night's Powerball jackpot not only competes with previous Powerball annuitized prizes, but also with the top 10 largest US lotteries in history. At $875 million, it currently sits at the seventh spot.
To break into the top five, the jackpot must expand beyond the $1.33 billion Mega Millions prize hit on July 29, 2022. Powerball holds the top two positions with jackpots at $2.04 billion (Nov. 7, 2022) and $1.58 billion (Jan. 13, 2016).
There's a slim possibility of 1 in 292.2 million for winning the Powerball jackpot. However, anyone can walk away with some form of prize, as the overall odds are 1 in 24.9.
A staggering 1.8 million tickets secured minor prizes worth a combined $16.5 million during Wednesday's draw.
Two tickets from the July 12 draw, purchased in Florida and Indiana, successfully matched five white numbers but failed to match the red Powerball, winning the game's second-highest prize of $1 million each.
An additional 36 tickets boasted four white balls in addition to the red Powerball, netting its owners $50,000. Of these, 26 fortunate winners opted for the $1 add-on Power Play option, tripling their proceeds to $150,000 after the Power Play landed on 3x.
Mega Millions is also witnessing a rapidly growing jackpot, amounting to $560 million as of now. The next Mega Millions draw will take place on Friday night at 11 p.m. EST.
While the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are significantly lower, at 1 in 302.5 million, the potential winnings remain substantial.
Read also:
- Games Industry Research: Carbon Emissions of Top Video Games
- U.S. cities with the most Swifties per capita
- Blackjack Casino Advantage: How to Beat the Odds
- Football 101: What is relegation in football?
Source: www.casino.org
