$750 MILLION: Powerball lottery jackpot surges to 4th-largest ever

Oct 25, 2018, 1:15 am (119 comments)

Powerball

Only the 4th time in history a lottery jackpot has grown to $700 million+

By Todd Northrop

This week lottery players across the United States were pulling out all the stops to try and win Mega Millions, with one of the largest lottery jackpots in history, worth nearly $1.6 billion.

After that jackpot was won Tuesday night on a single lottery ticket purchased in South Carolina, attention has suddenly shifted to the USA's other big multi-state lottery game, Powerball.

Wednesday night when there were no Powerball jackpot winners, the new jackpot for Saturday's drawing was raised to $750 million, with a lump-sum cash option of $428.6 million.

It is the 4th-largest lottery jackpot in world history, and the 5th-largest cash option ever offered. It is also only the 4th time in history any lottery jackpot has crossed the $700 million mark.

With lottery jackpots cresting at historic levels for the last couple of weeks — longer than normal for a big jackpot run-up — it will be interesting to note if the volume of ticket sales is sustained.

Of course, any big winner (or winners) of Saturday's Powerball jackpot will have to pay taxes on their prize, so the website USA Mega has a handy Powerball Jackpot Analysis page available to calculate the federal and state taxes that would be withheld upon payout. (Additional taxes beyond what is shown in the analysis will likely be owed by the winner in April, depending on how the winner chooses to dispose of and invest their money.)

Players looking for a nearby lottery retailer — or that out-of-the-way retailer with a smaller line — are encouraged to use Lottery Places, the only app for iOS, Android, and Windows that can locate the nearest lottery retailers in every jurisdiction that sells Powerball and Mega Millions. The helpful app can locate lottery stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, much of Canada, and the Caribbean.

Michigan lottery players also have the option of bypassing the store completely and buying Powerball lottery tickets online.

Players outside the USA can use a reputable butler service, which provides scanned copies of the purchased lottery tickets securely held on behalf of the customer. In the past, the lottery ticket service was used by people out side the USA to win big jackpots in Oregon and Florida.

Saturday's mammoth jackpot is the result of 21 consecutive draws without a winner.  The run-up started as a $40 million prize on Aug. 15.

The winning numbers for Wednesday, October 24, 2018 were 3, 21, 45, 53, and 56, with Powerball number 22.  The Power Play number was 2.

Even though nobody won the jackpot Wednesday, 7 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Arizona, 1 from Florida, 1 from Kentucky, 1 from New Jersey, 1 from New York, 1 from Oregon, and 1 from Wisconsin.

None of the second-prize winners purchased the Power Play option for an extra $1 per play.  If they had, their second-prize win would have been automatically doubled to $2 million.

When a Powerball ticket is purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1 per ticket, a second-prize win is doubled and any other non-jackpot prize is multplied by the Power Play number drawn that evening. A full chart of payout amounts can be found on the Powerball Drawing Detail page at USA Mega, as well as on the Powerball Prize Payouts page at Lottery Post.

Power Play is not available in California, because the fixed nature of the prize increase offered in Power Play is not compatible with California's pari-mutuel payouts. By law, California awards all prizes on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning the prizes will change each drawing based on the number of tickets sold and the number of tickets that won at each prize level.

Also in the Wednesday drawing, 102 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000.  Of those tickets, 13 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $100,000, and 16 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $20,428 this drawing.

Following the Wednesday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised a whopping $147.5 million from its previous amount of $602.5 million and the cash value was raised by $84.3 million from its previous amount of $344.3 million.

The next Powerball drawing will take place Saturday night at 10:59 pm Eastern Time.

Powerball is played in 44 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Drawings are Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time.  Tickets cost $2 each.

Powerball lottery results are published within minutes of the drawing at USA Mega (www.usamega.com).  The USA Mega Web site provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States's two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.

Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time

Saturday's Powerball jackpot currently stands as the 4th-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States, and the 3rd-largest Powerball jackpot ever.  Brisk sales will almost certainly push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.

  1. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 - California, Florida, Tennessee
  2. Mega Millions: $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 - South Carolina
  3. Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 - Massachusetts
  4. Powerball: $750 million, Oct. 27, 2018 - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
  5. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
  6. Mega Millions: $636 million, Dec. 17, 2013 - California, Georgia
  7. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 - Florida
  8. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 - Arizona, Missouri
  9. Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
  10. Powerball: $559.7 million, Jan. 6, 2018 - New Hampshire
  11. Mega Millions: $543 million, Jul. 24, 2018 - California
  12. Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 - Indiana
  13. Mega Millions: $533 million, Mar. 30, 2018 - New Jersey
  14. Powerball: $487 million, Jul. 30, 2016 - New Hampshire
  15. Powerball: $456.7 million, Mar. 17, 2018 - Pennsylvania
  16. Mega Millions: $451 million, Jan. 5, 2018 - Florida
  17. Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
  18. Powerball: $447.8 million, Jun. 10, 2017 - California
  19. Powerball: $435.3 million, Feb. 22, 2017 - Indiana
  20. Powerball: $429.6 million, May 7, 2016 - New Jersey
  21. Powerball: $425.3 million, Feb. 19, 2014 - California
  22. Powerball: $420.9 million, Nov. 26, 2016 - Tennessee
  23. Mega Millions: $414 million, Mar. 18, 2014 - Florida, Maryland
  24. Powerball: $399.4 million, Sep. 18, 2013 - South Carolina
  25. Mega Millions: $393 million, Aug. 11, 2017 - Illinois

The number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

  • Powerball: 16
  • Mega Millions: 9

Top 25 cash value jackpots

Since many lottery winners collect their winnings in cash, the lump-sum payout is an important measure of what a winning ticket could be worth.

Looking at the cash value, the upcoming Powerball jackpot ranks as the 5th-largest cash value in U.S. history.

  1. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
  2. Mega Millions: $877.8 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.537 billion annuity) - South Carolina
  3. Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
  4. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
  5. Powerball: $428.6 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($750 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
  6. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
  7. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
  8. Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
  9. Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
  10. Powerball: $352 million cash, Jan. 6, 2018 ($559.7 million annuity) - New Hampshire
  11. Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($636 million annuity) - California, Georgia
  12. Powerball: $336.8 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire
  13. Mega Millions: $324 million cash, Mar. 30, 2018 ($533 million annuity) - New Jersey
  14. Mega Millions: $320.5 million cash, Jul. 24, 2018 ($543 million annuity) - California
  15. Powerball: $284 million cash, May 7, 2016 ($429.6 million annuity) - New Jersey
  16. Mega Millions: $281.9 million cash, Jan. 5, 2018 ($451 million annuity) - Florida
  17. Powerball: $279.1 million cash, Jun. 10, 2017 ($447.8 million annuity) - California
  18. Powerball: $273.9 million cash, Mar. 17, 2018 ($456.7 million annuity) - Pennsylvania
  19. Powerball: $263.5 million cash, Feb. 22, 2017 ($435.3 million annuity) - Indiana
  20. Powerball: $258.2 million cash, Aug. 7, 2013 ($448.4 million annuity) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
  21. Powerball: $254.7 million cash, Nov. 26, 2016 ($420.9 million annuity) - Tennessee
  22. Mega Millions: $246.5 million cash, Aug. 11, 2017 ($393 million annuity) - Illinois
  23. Mega Millions: $240 million cash, Jan. 4, 2011 ($380 million annuity) - Idaho, Washington
  24. Mega Millions: $233.1 million cash, Mar. 6, 2007 ($390 million annuity) - Georgia, New Jersey
  25. Mega Millions: $230.9 million cash, Mar. 18, 2014 ($414 million annuity) - Florida, Maryland

The number of jackpot cash values in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

  • Powerball: 14
  • Mega Millions: 11

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Stack47

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!

Need200K

Just the first 5 numbers will do for me babeh...That’s what I am targeting..Already bought my 1 ticket using a strategy which yielded August 8,2018 Powerball draw

adamc224

Thanks Todd for the top 20. It's changing rapidly.

I thought that Powerball wasn't going to give up without a fight. I was right!

Will I be the single ticket winner. Nah. I'm sitting this one out! I didn't win anything for this draw, so moving forward with nothing... Same as yesterday.

Good Luck to all players!

Revolution777's avatarRevolution777

I think this Jackpot easily blows past Mavis Wanczyk's in August 2017 and goes to at least $775M. 

There is no MM competition.  It's for a Saturday drawing.  3rd largest Jackpot in history.

Not sure how burned out people are from playing both of these big jackpots in the last 7-10 days though?

Good chance it hits $1 BILLION on HALLOWEEN of all days if it rolls!  Scary!

TheMeatman2005's avatarTheMeatman2005

I had 1+PB for $4 so I will have at least 2 tickets for Saturday's PB draw.

Good luck to all players.

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

CDanaT's avatarCDanaT

Quote: Originally posted by hearsetrax on Oct 25, 2018

My sentiments exactly HT....5 tickets and only 1 correct number Mad

Kyle7824's avatarKyle7824

It just said on a local radio show, that one of the $1 million tickets for MM in NC, she picked the lump sum, $423,000 after everything taken out...

so, if you had mega plier would that not be $423,000x3? Take home... it’s only one freaking dollar... :-( geez

TheMeatman2005's avatarTheMeatman2005

There's no picking on lower tier prizes.

They are all....only cash. The only prize you get to choose is with the jackpot.

Kyle7824's avatarKyle7824

Quote: Originally posted by TheMeatman2005 on Oct 25, 2018

There's no picking on lower tier prizes.

They are all....only cash. The only prize you get to choose is with the jackpot.

No, it said she could choose 50,000 a year...on the radio show...

That was not my question though...

it landed on x3 

would that not be $423,000 x 3?

if you had mega plier

Raven62's avatarRaven62

If you do the math, there are 11,238,513 possible combinations of five white balls. Multiply that by the 26 possible red balls, and you get 292,201,338 possible Powerball number combinations. At $2 per ticket, you'd need $584,402,676 to buy every single combination and guarantee a Win!

TheMeatman2005's avatarTheMeatman2005

Quote: Originally posted by Kyle7824 on Oct 25, 2018

No, it said she could choose 50,000 a year...on the radio show...

That was not my question though...

it landed on x3 

would that not be $423,000 x 3?

if you had mega plier

This is from the MM site:

Most states offer a Megaplier feature to increase non-jackpot prizes by 2, 3, 4 or 5 times; it costs an additional $1 per play.  Before each Mega Millions drawing on Tuesday and Friday nights, the Megaplier is drawn. From a pool of 15 balls, five are marked with 2X, six with 3X, three with 4X and one with 5X. This mix results in the following odds for each of the Megaplier numbers and their associated prize values:

I don't know where the $423,000 amount comes from, but whatever the prize for a lower tier win would be multiplied by whatever the Megaplier number drawn.

Kyle7824's avatarKyle7824

Quote: Originally posted by TheMeatman2005 on Oct 25, 2018

This is from the MM site:

Most states offer a Megaplier feature to increase non-jackpot prizes by 2, 3, 4 or 5 times; it costs an additional $1 per play.  Before each Mega Millions drawing on Tuesday and Friday nights, the Megaplier is drawn. From a pool of 15 balls, five are marked with 2X, six with 3X, three with 4X and one with 5X. This mix results in the following odds for each of the Megaplier numbers and their associated prize values:

I don't know where the $423,000 amount comes from, but whatever the prize for a lower tier win would be multiplied by whatever the Megaplier number drawn.

$423,000 is after taxes on 2nd prize for NC...that’s what they said on the radio show...

NY might be different tax amount after taxes...

Kingofearth's avatarKingofearth

Quote: Originally posted by Kyle7824 on Oct 25, 2018

It just said on a local radio show, that one of the $1 million tickets for MM in NC, she picked the lump sum, $423,000 after everything taken out...

so, if you had mega plier would that not be $423,000x3? Take home... it’s only one freaking dollar... :-( geez

All lower tier prizes are lump sum only for PB and MM. She received about 550-600 thousand after taxes depending on what the tax rate is. If she paid the extra dollar (Which she didn't) then she would have received three times that amount.

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