The number: $674 million. After 30 rollovers since an Illinois player won $1.04 billion on Wednesday, Aug. 12, the Powerball jackpot reached that figure for the Saturday, Oct. 24 drawing, and the cash option rose to $289.1 million. The bottom line for anyone buying a ticket: the odds are 1 in 292,201,338, and they do not change with the size of the pot.
How the drawing works
Drawings are held and filmed at a Tallahassee, Florida studio at 11 p.m. Eastern every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, holidays included. The Multi-State Lottery Association oversees Powerball, and also manages Mega Millions. The game is sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the United Kingdom.
A play costs two dollars. In some states, an extra dollar buys Power Play, which raises the payout on winning numbers, or Double Play, which enters the same numbers in a second drawing with a separate prize pool. Ticket sales officially close at 10 p.m. Eastern, though some lotteries stop earlier.
The odds, and the prizes below the jackpot
To win the jackpot, a player must match five white balls drawn from 69 and one red Powerball drawn from 26. Powerball.com puts the chance at 1 in 292.2 million whether the jackpot is $20 million or $2 billion. The minimum jackpot is $20 million as an annuity.
The picture is kinder further down. Prizes start at $2, and a ticket can win by matching just one number. That comes from the game’s two-drum design, suggested by Steve Caputo of the Oregon Lottery and first used by Powerball in 1992. It allows long jackpot odds alongside many prize levels and better overall odds. Mega Millions’ predecessor The Big Game, Australia’s Powerball, Thunderball in the U.K., Eurojackpot and EuroMillions later borrowed it.
Annuity or cash
Winners choose between an annuity of 30 graduated payments over 29 years, each rising 5%, and a lump sum worth about half the advertised jackpot. In the U.K. only the annuity is offered. The record is the $2.04 billion jackpot won by Edwin Castro. The game’s roots go back to 1988’s Lotto America, which became Powerball on April 19, 1992, with a first drawing on April 22.
The last winner, and who got close
Powerball reset to $20 million on Saturday, Aug. 15, after the Quincy, Illinois win. The Illinois Lottery said the winner took the $450.0 million cash option and stayed anonymous. Hy-Vee Fast and Fresh at 310 N. 36th St. sold the ticket and earned a $500,000 bonus commission.
The Wednesday, Oct. 21 drawing produced no jackpot winner. The numbers were 1-21-44-50-57 with a Powerball of 5 and Power Play of 2x. Tickets bought in Ohio and Pennsylvania matched five numbers plus Power Play for $2 million each, and a New Jersey ticket matched five for $1 million. A $1 million five-number ticket was also sold at Racetrac, 2335 Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers, Florida. State lottery records show the holder, who lives in Cape Coral, claimed the cash.
Claiming a prize in Florida
Florida Lottery prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing, and a winner who wants the single-payment cash option has 60 days. Anonymity is not guaranteed. Florida law requires the lottery to release a winner’s name, city, game, date and amount to anyone who asks. Names of winners of $250,000 or more are temporarily exempt from disclosure for 90 days after the prize is claimed, unless the winner waives that.
Sources
- Powerball
- Powerball close to $700 million for Saturday, Oct. 24. Results, numbers
- Powerball close to $700 million for Saturday, Oct. 24. Results, numbers
Photo: Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States (CC BY 2.0)
