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Powerball Winning Numbers October 17: Watch $80 Million Jackpot Drawing Live

By Cheryl Phillips
Published on: 14:19 PST, Oct 17, 2015

The Powerball jackpot for October 17 is $80 million and if your ticket has the winning numbers drawn on Saturday night you will be the lottery’s newest multi-millionaire. The odds of winning the popular lottery game are 1 in 292 million, so consider yourself extremely lucky if you win the top prize.

Powerball numbers are drawn every Wednesday and Saturday night at 10:59 p.m. ET. and will be published here shortly after the drawing. If you want to watch the drawing live, tune in to one of these local TV stations, watch the drawing online on WRAL, or download the free LotteryHub app for iPhone, iPad, or Android device and watch the live broadcast while you are on-the-go.

The Powerball winning numbers for October 17 are: 48, 49, 57, 62, 69 – PB 19, PowerPlay 3

Saturday night’s drawing will be the fifth without a jackpot winner since Michigan resident Julie Leach won the $310 million jackpot on September 30. Changes to the Powerball game that took place on October 7 will make it even more difficult to win the jackpot, so it may be awhile before another ticket holder takes home the jackpot.

According to M Live, the odds of winning the jackpot went from 1 in 175 million to 1 in 292 million when more white numbered balls were added to the game. Instead of choosing five numbers in the first set from balls numbered 1 – 59, the white balls are now numbered 1 – 69.

If you are grumbling about the almost impossible odds of winning the Powerball jackpot, there are some changes that are good news for players. Although it will be harder to win the jackpot, there is a better chance that ticket holders will win a non-jackpot prize.

The number of red Powerballs went from 35 to 26, giving players a 1 in 25 chance to win a non-jackpot prize that ranges in value from $4 (just the Powerball) to $1 million (five white balls, no Powerball). Another change relates to the Power Play option.

Prior to October 7, the Power Play option would multiply non-jackpot prizes between two to five times if you paid the extra $1 fee. The multiplier has now increased to two to 10 times, giving ticket holders a chance to win much bigger non-jackpot prizes. Unfortunately, the Power Play does not apply to $1 million dollar prizes — they can only be multipled by two times ($2 million).

If you haven’t checked some of your older Powerball tickets for non-jackpot prizes, why not take a look at some of the recent numbers drawn to make sure you didn’t miss out on some extra cash? Here are the winning Powerball numbers for the month of October, not including tonight’s drawing.

  • October 14: 15, 20, 29, 31, 40 – PB 1, Power Play 2X
  • October 10: 12 27 29 43 68 – PB 1, Power Play 2X
  • October 7: 18, 30, 40, 48, 52 – PB 9, Power Play 3X
  • October 3: 6, 26, 33, 44, 46 – PB 4, Power Play 2X

If you are busy planning what you will do with your multi-million dollar windfall, keep in mind that you will not get the entire $80 million prize if you win tonight’s jackpot. Even if you are the sole winner and don’t have to split the jackpot with another winning ticket holder, your lump sum payment would be approximately $49.8 million before federal and state taxes are deducted.

Winners who choose a one-time lump sum payment only receive the cash value of the jackpot, so that’s where the $49.8 million figure comes from. According to USA Mega, the prize will be immediately taxed at least 25 percent for federal taxes, leaving the winner with approximately $37,350,000 before state taxes are applied.

If you don’t need all the money at once, the 30-year annuity option is based on the entire $80 million jackpot. The winner would receive 30 annual payments of approximately $2.7 million each before taxes.

Powerball tickets are sold 44 States, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday night at 10:59 p.m. ET.

[Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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