Powerball jackpot nears $1 billion after another winnerless drawing

The Powerball jackpot rose to $975 million after no one claimed the grand prize in Saturday night’s drawing.

No tickets matched the winning white ball numbers of 12, 13, 33, 50, 52 and the red Powerball 23. Four people matched all five white balls to win $1 million.

If someone wins Monday night’s drawing and elects to take the immediate cash payout, as most winners do, they will receive $471.7 million, according to Powerball. To get the full $975 million, they’ll have to accept their winnings in 30 installments paid annually.

No one has won the Powerball since New Year’s Day, when a ticket-buyer in Michigan claimed the $842.4 million grand prize. At the time, that was the fifth-largest jackpot in Powerball history, but it has since been surpassed by the current jackpot.

“This is no April Fools’ Day joke, we have an advertised Powerball jackpot that’s closing in on $1 billion to kick off the month of April,” said Drew Svitko, Powerball Product Group Chair and Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director.

Both Powerball and Mega Millions have routinely approached new records in recent years. The largest Powerball prize in history was $2.04 billion, which was won in November 2022 by Edwin Castro of Southern California. Five of the six largest prizes in Powerball history have come in the past 48 months.

Four of the five biggest Mega Millions jackpots have been awarded in that same time period. The most recent Mega Millions grand prize, $1.13 billion, was won Wednesday by a single ticket-buyer in New Jersey. That was the fifth-largest Mega Millions prize ever.

_____