Powerball’s second-largest prize of the year has swollen to about $1.1 billion after Saturday night’s drawing produced no winner. This marks the year’s second biggest jackpot and continues a five-year trend, with 12 jackpots surpassing the $1 billion mark in that span.
The latest numbers drawn were 1, 28, 31, 57, and 58, with a Powerball of 16. Although the top prize went unclaimed, five tickets nationwide matched for $1 million, and two others won $2 million, according to Powerball.
Earlier this year, the jackpot peaked at $1.787 billion in September, a prize split by two winners from Missouri and Texas who chose the lump-sum option. Those winners accepted a before-taxes payout of $410 million per person, a common choice among big-lottery wins.
For this drawing, the advertised lump-sum payment is $503.4 million before taxes, reflecting an increase of more than $74 million since Wednesday. The advertised jackpot figure is typically the annuitized amount (30 annual payments with interest over 29 years), which lottery operators use for promotional purposes because it represents the total value of the prize over time if funds were invested to yield a higher return.
The actual odds of hitting the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 290.2 million. The next drawing is scheduled for tonight at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
