The Powerball jackpot has reached a staggering $650 million after no one managed to match all six numbers pulled during Saturday’s drawing.
The winning numbers from Saturday’s drawing were 7, 23, 24, 32, and 43, with a red Powerball number of 18.
There have been 34 consecutive drawings, each adding to the current jackpot. Now the lump sum cash option would be worth an estimated $328.3 million, according to a press release from Powerball.
An annuitized prize is also available and would be worth the full $650 million before taxes. If selected, the winner will receive one immediate payment and 29 other annual payments that increase by 5% yearly.
Any winner would be collecting the ninth-largest jackpot recorded in Powerball’s history and the second-largest of the year. The first half of 2023 has produced three jackpot winners so far, with grand prizes worth $252.6 million, $754.6 million, and $162.6 million.
To win the jackpot, players must correctly guess all five white balls and the red Powerball number. The odds of winning the jackpot are incredibly low at roughly 1 in 292.2 million, per The Hill.
Powerball states there is a 1 in 24.87 chance for players to win some type of prize.
Back in February, a resident of Plano won $2 million by matching five out of six numbers in a Powerball drawing, as covered in The Dallas Express.
Although no one hit the jackpot during the most recent drawing, a total of 1.8 million tickets were won in some capacity, with lower-tier prizes totaling $15.5 million in winnings, per Powerball.
Three tickets sold in California, Colorado, and Illinois matched all five white balls but missed the red Powerball number, resulting in prizes worth $1 million.
Powerball tickets are available in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and only cost $2 each. Over half of the proceeds from each ticket sold will stay in the jurisdiction where they are purchased.
Drawings take place every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 9:59 p.m. CST and can be live-streamed on the Powerball.com website.
The Powerball jackpot has reached over $1 billion multiple times. A California ticket won the $2.04 billion jackpot in November 2022, and a $1.586 billion jackpot won in January 2016 was split by winners from California, Florida, and Tennessee.
