Powerball Jackpot Reaches $785 Million for Next Drawing
Posted on: September 24, 2023, 09:41h.
Last updated on: September 24, 2023, 09:42h.
The Powerball jackpot continues to grow as no winning ticket matched the six drawn numbers in the latest drawing. This marks the 28th consecutive drawing without a jackpot winner.
The winning numbers for the latest drawing were 1-12-20-33-66, with the red Powerball number being 21. The Power Play multiplier was 2x.
With no jackpot winner, the estimated jackpot for the next drawing on Monday night is an impressive $785 million. The cash value option is projected to be $367 million.
During its history, the Powerball jackpot has reached higher amounts than the current prize only three times.
The largest Powerball prize ever won was a staggering $2.04 billion, which was won by a single ticket sold in California on November 7, 2022. In January 2016, three tickets sold in California, Florida, and Tennessee split a $1.586 billion jackpot. On July 19, 2023, a player in California won a jackpot prize of $1.08 billion.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are approximately one in 292.2 million, while the overall odds of winning any prize are one in 24.9. Matching the red Powerball alone guarantees a minimal prize of $4.
A single play of Powerball costs $2. Around 68 cents from each entry contributes to the cash-sum jackpot. The advertised jackpot is based on the annuity option paid out over 30 years.
California Player Wins $5.4M
During the latest Powerball drawing, more than 1.5 million tickets won prizes. In California, New York, and Florida, three tickets matched all five white balls, resulting in a $1 million prize for each. Additionally, a ticket sold in Michigan matched all five white balls and included the Power Play option, doubling the winnings to $2 million.
In California, the ticket that matched the five white balls is worth $5.4 million thanks to the state’s pari-mutuel payout system. While the Powerball jackpot is pari-mutuel in nature across all participating states, the fixed amounts apply to all other Powerball prizes, except in California.
This unique payout structure in California is a result of a ruling by the California Supreme Court in 1991, which dictated that the state’s Lottery Act allows only games where the operator has no vested interest in the outcome and the number of winners. As a result, California distributes revenue to all lower-level prize tiers.
According to Powerball, each prize category receives a designated percentage of the overall prize pool, which is then split among the winners in each category.
In some cases, especially in early Powerball runs, the $1 million prize for matching the five white balls in California can be lower than the fixed win amount in other states due to the parimutuel mandate.
Medical Workers Win $1M
In other lottery news, a group of 15 medical workers employed by UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) in Pennsylvania recently won a $1 million prize in the Mega Millions drawing. The colleagues, known as the “Million Dollar Medicals,” have been playing together for about 20 years.
Jackie Burdick, one of the participants, said that winning the $1 million prize was an exciting first for the group, who regularly play together.