Powerball Jackpot Nears $200 Million, Six $1 Million Winners In Saturday Drawing
The Powerball jackpot edged past the $190 million mark for only the second time this year as the nationwide lottery game on Saturday saw its 11th consecutive drawing with no winner. But Saturday’s Powerball numbers did produce six new millionaires as tickets in six states won the game’s second-prize.
Powerball tickets purchased in Florida, New York, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin each matched the first five numbers, but missed out on the Power Ball number to earn their lucky buyers $1 million each, before taxes. None of the six ticket buyers had purchased the Power Play option, however, which would have doubled their winnings.
Saturday’s Powerball drawing, which carried a top jackpot of $173 million, saw sales of 21,652,744 tickets across the 43 states — plus Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands — that participate in the Powerball lottery game, marking the first time that sales have cracked the 20 million mark since the February 19 drawing.
That February drawing was worth $425 million, the sixth-largest U.S. lottery jackpot of all time, and was won by a single player who purchased his ticket at a gas station in Milpitas, California.
But in the run-up to the massive February 19 Powerball jackpot, which took 16 drawings with no winner before hitting that $425 million mark, ticket sales did not top 20 million until the 11th drawing, on February 1, when a potential $194 million jackpot attracted over 24.5 million sales.
The previous drawing, at $171 million, barely topped 19 million, so it appears as if the current run-up is sparking slightly more interest as the Powerball jackpot climbs higher and higher into the nine-figure range.
If no one wins the $192 million jackpot on Wednesday, the following drawing will almost certainly push past the $200 million barrier.
That $192 million jackpot, if a hypothetical winner chose to take the full value of he top Powerball prize, would be paid in 30 annual installments, each one escalating in value. The first check, paid immediately, would total an estimated $3,423,379 before federal taxes. The final check, paid out in the year 2043, would be for $10,676,326.
In Saturday’s Powerball game, there were 641,319 tickets sold that contained some combination of winning numbers, with total prize money of $9,888,060. Is any of that money yours? Check your Powerball ticket against these numbers, drawn at 10:59 pm in Tallahassee, Florida.
15 — 27 — 31 — 34 — 48 Powerball 1
The cash value of Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot, to a winner who chooses to receive the prize in single lump-sum payment, is estimated at $114.8 million.
