Powerball Jackpot Reaches $114 Million, Four Tickets Win $1 Million Second-Prize

The Powerball jackpot surged to $114 million after the numbers drawn Saturday night matched none of the nearly 16 million tickets sold nationwide, but with four second-prize winners, the total prize money to be given away after the May 17 drawing tops $8.3 million.

The 15,654,103 tickets sold for the $100 million jackpot offered in Saturday’s Powerball game were the highest total since April 23 when a $148.8 million jackpot was won by a single ticket-buyer in Florida. The eight drawings since then have come up empty, at least as far as jackpot winners are concerned, and with both the Powerball and Mega Millions games now touting top prizes in the $100 million range at the same time, lottery fever appears to be building once again.

There were, however, four Powerball tickets sold for Saturday’s game that turned their holders into overnight millionaires. Those four tickets were purchased in California, Georgia, West Virginia, and Kansas.

The second-prize winner who bought a ticket in Kansas was sharp enough to pay $3 for a Powerball ticket, rather than the usual $2, which activated the Power Play option. That means the lucky Kansan will collect $2 million before taxes for matching the first five numbers but not the Power Ball.

The other three second-prize winners will take home $1 million, also before taxes are withheld.

There were also 25 third-prize winners in Saturday’s Powerball drawing. Most of them will collect $10,000, but four took the Power Play option which made their tickets worth $30,000, thanks to a Power Play multiplier of “3” drawn for Saturday’s game.

Also, four third-prize winners in California where all prizes except the jackpot are paid on a pari-mutuel basis, win just $5,654.

In total, $8,314,807 in prize money was won in Saturday’s Powerball game, on 473,235 winning tickets. Was yours one of them? Check your Powerball ticket against these numbers, drawn at 10:59 pm in Tallahassee, Florida.

23 — 32 — 39 — 47 — 49 Powerball 22

In other lottery news, California’s statewide Super Lotto Plus game saw its 38th consecutive drawing with no jackpot winner, as the top prize now rises to $68 million.

The single-payment cash value of Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot is $67.9 million.