Saturday’s almost $950 million jackpot already was the largest in USA history, but after Saturday night’s rollover, Wednesday’s drawing will be worth $1.3 billion, said Texas Lottery official Kelly Cripe.
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Leading up to Saturday’s drawing, $155.8 million worth of Powerball tickets were sold in NY.
Millions of Americans anxiously checked their tickets for the winning combination of six numbers – 32, 16, 19, 57, 34 with a Powerball number of 13.
The Multi-State Lottery Association announced the numbers live on television and on its website. A second prize of $1,000,000 can be won if someone has five out of the six numbers.
The odds of winning Saturday’s monster jackpot were one in 292.2 million.
The jackpot will be the biggest since a $564.1 million Powerball prize shared by players from North Carolina, Texas and Puerto Rico in February 2015.
As for Wednesday night’s Powerball jackpot of $1.3 billion, it is unknown how much a one time payout would be, though Reuters noted that Saturday’s 0 million jackpot would have paid out a total of $558 million instead of yearly payments.
Since Nov. 4, the Powerball jackpot has ballooned from its starting point of $40 million.
And more million-dollar prizes have been awarded as ticket sales have skyrocketed.
Powerball’s grand prize has increased steadily for weeks after repeated drawings produced no big winners. “We’re very concerned about people playing responsibly and not overspending”, Gary Grief said.
The record jackpot lured an unprecedented frenzy of purchases.
With Powerball sales breaking records, the odds are growing that someone will win the $800 million jackpot. The jackpot returns to $100,000 for Monday’s drawing.
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People wait in line to buy tickets for the Powerball lottery at the CA lotto store in San Bernardino County, California, on Saturday. “We are OFFICIALLY #InSearchofaBILLIONAIRE ($1.3 BILLION)!” the lottery of the District of Columbia, where the USA capital is located, wrote on Twitter around 0700 GMT Sunday. “It only takes one ticket to win”.
