Justin Boggs
Why are there so many massive Powerball, Mega Millions jackpots?
Mega Millions and Powerball are set to offer massive jackpots this weekend. The reason is not a coincidence.
LEARN MOREPosted: 6:56 a.m. EDT Jul 18, 2023
Wednesday's Powerball jackpot will grow to $1 billion after no one hit all six numbers on Monday's drawing worth over $900 million. It is just the third time Powerball has topped $1 billion.
The numbers for Monday's drawing were white balls 5, 8, 9, 17, 41 and red Powerball 21. Wednesday's jackpot will rank as Powerball's third-largest ever.
Eight people matched all five white ball numbers, five of whom will win $1 million. Three others will claim $2 million as they added the Power Play option to their ticket.
Powerball said 28 tickets won $200,000 prizes, while 88 earned $50,000 prizes from Monday's drawing.
The Powerball jackpot has steadily grown since a player in Ohio won a $252 million jackpot on April 19. There have been two winning Powerball tickets sold in 2023.
Someone in Virginia won a $162.6 million jackpot in the March 4 drawing. The largest prize of the year came when Becky Bell in Washington won a $754.6 million jackpot in the Feb. 6 drawing.
Since Powerball lowered the odds of hitting all six numbers in 2015, the multi-state lottery generally has six to nine winners a year. All 10 of its largest jackpots have also come since 2015. The largest Powerball jackpot in history was $2.04 billion, won on Nov. 7, 2022.
The $1 billion jackpot figure is based on the winner choosing the annuity option. If the winner takes the lump sum, that person would win $516.8 million. Both figures are before taxes.
The odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 292 million.
Powerball also has prizes ranging from $4 to $2 million. The odds of winning a smaller prize are about 1 in 25. During Monday's drawing, 2.8 million people won a prize.
Powerball is played in 45 states and Washington, D.C.
Another multi-state lottery, Mega Millions, will hold its seventh-largest jackpot on Tuesday at $640 million.
