Powerball Jackpot Skyrockets to $1.4 Billion After 33 Consecutive Draws Without a Winner
In its 33rd consecutive drawing on Wednesday, the multi-state Powerball lottery game once again failed to produce a jackpot winner, causing the jackpot to soar to an astonishing $1.4 billion.
The lucky winner of this colossal prize can choose a lump-sum payment of $643.7 million in cash, which is over half a billion dollars, for the upcoming drawing on October 7th. This makes Saturday’s Powerball jackpot the third largest in history and the fifth largest ever recorded in the United States.
In 2023, the world of lotteries has already witnessed four billion-dollar jackpots, with two occurring in Mega Millions and two in Powerball.
Lottery Executive Director Eric Hagler highlighted, “This is a historic moment in Powerball’s history, as it’s the first time we’ve seen consecutive billion-dollar jackpot cycles. The last Powerball jackpot was claimed on July 19th for $1.08 billion, and since then, there have been 32 consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner.”
According to a recent survey, the ease of online ticket purchases and the addition of an extra drawing day have contributed to the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots recently reaching record-breaking heights.
The winning numbers in the draw on October 4th, which offered a mind-blowing grand prize of $1.2 billion, were 9, 35, 54, 63, and 64. The Power Play number was 2, while the winning Powerball number was 1. These figures could have made someone a billionaire right away.
The winning numbers in Wednesday’s Double Play drawing were 12, 30, 39, 64, 67, and Powerball 22. Play Double Play for extra money and a chance to win up to $10 million in 14 states for just $1 each play.
Sadly, no one hit the large prize, but ten players on Wednesday each won $1 million for matching the first five numbers. Two of the winners, who each receive a sum of $1,220,123, are from California.
For an additional $1 per play, three second-place tickets were bought using the Power Play feature, boosting their payouts to $2 million. Three of the tickets were sold: one each in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
94 tickets also won cash in the Wednesday drawing by matching the Powerball and four white numbers, each taking home $50,000. 13 players out of the 94 ticket holders selected the Power Play option, doubling their winnings to $100,000 each. Additionally, 14 of the winning tickets were purchased in California, where the draw’s $17,500 prize was given out.
According to lottery officials, following Wednesday’s drawing, the anticipated Powerball jackpot was raised to $1.4 billion on an annuity basis, with a cash value of $868 million.