With Powerball sales breaking previous records, the odds are growing that someone will win Saturday night’s $800 million jackpot – but if no one matches all the numbers, the next drawing is expected to soar past $1 billion.
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Enthusiastic ticket-buyers pushed the record Powerball jackpot to $949.8 million for Saturday night’s drawing, but no ticket matched all six numbers, boosting the expected payout for Wednesday’s drawing to a whopping $1.3 billion. The winning numbers were 16-19-32-34-57 and the Powerball number 13. Because the payout is based on sales, the prize has grown more quickly as people rush to buy tickets.
The odds to win are one in 292.2 million.
Grief says Powerball sales on Thursday were double the previous record for that day and that it’s possible the estimated jackpot could rise again before the drawing. With nearly unimaginable riches at stake, many Americans who normally shun lotteries joined the long lines of people buying tickets at retail stores across the country.
The drawing was held at 10:59 p.m. ET Saturday.
Julian Perez fills out a Powerball ticket, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, in Miami.
That was exactly what lottery officials hoped for last fall when they bumped up the odds from a mere one in 175 million, spurring ever higher jackpots by making it harder to win the larger amounts.
Jay Suthar sells Powerball tickets at Pine Liquors in Fort Washington, Md., Friday, Jan. 8, 2016.
The chance of no one hitting all five initial numbers and the Powerball number was growing slimmer, Grief said, anticipating that about 75 percent of all combinations will have been bought.
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The unidentified person bought the winning ticket for Friday’s Mega Millions drawing at the Willowbrook Deli on Staten Island. The ever-increasing jackpot is a result of strong national sales ever since the jackpot was near $400 million just days ago.
