Powerball Jackpot Begins New Climb After No One Hits Saturday Numbers

The Powerball jackpot was back to the minimum $40 million after Wednesday’s winner, but Saturday’s numbers matched none of the more than 13.5 million tickets sold. That means the jackpot is on the way back up. The mid-week drawing on June 18 will now be worth $50 million to a potential jackpot winner.

The winning ticket for last Wednesday’s game was sold in Knoxville, Tennessee, but the winner has not yet come forward. That is not unusual. Lottery officials advise winners, especially big winners, to consult with attorneys and financial advisers before collecting their jackpot cash.

Not surprisingly, financial experts feel the same way.

“Everyone likes the idea of being instantly rich, having anything you want and never having to work,” says Eric Tyson, author of the guide Investing For Dummies. “But most people overlook the enormous responsibility and the potential downside of instant wealth. I would take things slowly, and recognize you will need a lot of education as well as potential advisers.”

Those experts cite studies showing that 70 percent of lottery winners — no matter how big the jackpot — end up broke in about seven years.

Hopefully, the winner in Tennessee is taking steps to avoid that fate. The final tally of that Powerball jackpot turned out to be $259.8 million, even higher than the advertised $257 million jackpot.

The drawing sold 32,643,579 tickets — the fourth-highest sales figure of 2014 and the highest since a February 19, $425 million jackpot sold more than 92 million tickets. The high number of ticket sales Saturday likely resulted in the somewhat adjusted final Powerball jackpot.

There were three second-prize winners on Saturday, even though no one won the top jackpot. One of those three tickets was purchased by a Connecticut Powerball player who paid the extra dollar to activate the Power Play option, making that ticket worth $2 million.

The other two tickets, which matched the first five numbers but not the Power Ball, are good for $1 million each. The tickets were purchased in Maryland and Texas.

The Powerball jackpot now begins a climb that lottery officials hope will take it to new heights. Not surprisingly, big jackpots result in big ticket sales for Powerball. The biggest Powerball jackpot of the year, the $425 million February 19 jackpot, took 16 drawings without a winner to hit that height.

There were almost 4 million winning Powerball tickets Saturday, dividing over $6.7 million in prize money. Was your one of them? Check your Powerball ticket against these numbers, drawn at 10:59 pm in Tallahassee, Florida.

9 — 33 — 42 — 45 — 54 Powerball 30

The cash value of Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot is estimated at $29.4 million, to a winner who takes the money in a single payment.