Powerball lottery jackpot soars to $290 million

Oct 13, 2005, 12:12 pm (19 comments)

Powerball

One player from Pennsylvania wins $1 million Power Play prize

Lottery players from around the United States and the rest of the world will rush to grab tickets for Saturday's Powerball drawing, which will be the largest jackpot the game has seen since that fateful Christmas Day in 2002 when Jack Whittaker won the largest prize ever awarded to a single person — $314,900,000.

Even though the grand prize was not hit Wednesday evening, 1,751,818 players across the nation won a total of more than $16.6 million in prizes.

Because no one correctly matched all six numbers in Wednesday's drawing the jackpot will reach an estimated $290 million for Saturday's draw.

The cash option for the Saturday, October 15th drawing will be an estimated $141.9 million.

The numbers drawn Wednesday night were 4, 9, 18, 51, 54 and the Powerball was 10. The Power Play multiplier was 5.

Fourteen players in the states of Arizona (4), Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska (2), Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and West Virginia matched all 5 white balls and won $200,000. One player in Pennsylvania not only won at this prize level, but also very wisely purchased the Power Play option multiplying their winnings 5 times for a total of $1 million cash.

Ninety-one players matched 4 white numbers plus the Powerball and won $10,000. Fifteen additional players who won at this prize level also purchased the Power Play and had their $10,000 winnings multiplied by 5 to $50,000.

More than 187,000 winning Powerball players multiplied their prizes by 5 Wednesday. They were able to do that by purchasing the Power Play option for one dollar. With Power Play you multiply your Powerball winnings from 2 to 5 times, except for the jackpot. At the beginning of each drawing a wheel is spun to select that night's multiplier.

Players should carefully check their tickets after every draw. Even if there are no jackpot winners there are always tens of thousands of winners at other prize levels.

Players purchased more than $69.8 million in tickets between Sunday and Wednesday night. The lotteries sold more than $2 billion in Powerball tickets in FY05. That translates into more than $600 million for worthwhile state projects.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Bradly_60's avatarBradly_60

Wow sales are really down aren't they.  I don't remember such modest increases in the jackpot when it was this high before.  Especially since the media is getting a hold on the story now.

Brad

Chewie

I see images of happy little lottery directors visualizing that huge bonus coming their way. The more tickets, the greater the bonus. Nothing beats having private industry merging with the Government. Profits for everyone - every one on the receiving side that is. Kinda like a Robin Hood reversal.

weshar75's avatarweshar75

Powerball needs at least two more rolls for that match 5 bonus rule to payout a nice prize on top of the $200 thousand.

fja's avatarfja

Its been so long that I forgot about that rule....

bellyache's avatarbellyache

It's still a large amount to me and I would take it. =)

DoubleDown

Powerball needs at least two more rolls for that match 5 bonus rule to payout a nice prize on top of the $200 thousand.

What rule is that ?

weshar75's avatarweshar75

Powerball needs at least two more rolls for that match 5 bonus rule to payout a nice prize on top of the $200 thousand.

What rule is that ?

Once the jackpot reaches $340 million it will only rise in $25 million increments and the surplus will go into a pot for the 5+0 winners when the jackpot is won the pot will be distributed to the 5+0 winners as an add on to the $200 thousand they already won.  The rule is called match 5 bonus.

fxsterling

i need to win

DoubleDown

i need to win

As the public service announcement says " If you need to win, you need to quit"

Yes, we all have visions of what it would be like to have $100 million in the bank, but please remember it is only a game, after all. A Helluva game, but still just a game.

Please don't wager more than you can afford to lose........

DD

Chewie

i need to win

As the public service announcement says " If you need to win, you need to quit"

Yes, we all have visions of what it would be like to have $100 million in the bank, but please remember it is only a game, after all. A Helluva game, but still just a game.

Please don't wager more than you can afford to lose........

DD

Game? In the promo it is called a game. On all the sites they say you can "play", but they never call it a game. Its gambling, pure and simple. In a game, when it is over, you put all the toys back in the box until the next time you play. In the lottery, the owners keep the toys and you have to buy new ones each time you play - unless you win. Marbles is a game. Monopoly is a game. The lottery is gambling with real money.

JAG331

I agree with DD...it is just a game, like Monopoly, which costs $20 to buy.

DoubleDown

i need to win

As the public service announcement says " If you need to win, you need to quit"

Yes, we all have visions of what it would be like to have $100 million in the bank, but please remember it is only a game, after all. A Helluva game, but still just a game.

Please don't wager more than you can afford to lose........

DD

Game? In the promo it is called a game. On all the sites they say you can "play", but they never call it a game. Its gambling, pure and simple. In a game, when it is over, you put all the toys back in the box until the next time you play. In the lottery, the owners keep the toys and you have to buy new ones each time you play - unless you win. Marbles is a game. Monopoly is a game. The lottery is gambling with real money.

We can split hairs forever over whether it is a game or not. Life itself is a gamble or a game, depending on your viewpoint-- but the real intent of my post was if you need to win you need to quit.

I'm sure we all agree on that.

 

 

DD

Todd's avatarTodd

I agree with those who say it is a game, because the lottery is nothing more than entertainment.  I also agree that anyone playing this game needing to win should not be playing the game at all.  The lottery is entertainment, not an income-producing investment.

rock_nc's avatarrock_nc

whether it's a game or gambling or just entertainment,we all want to win!

Life is about the Journey,not the Destination, don't you agree!!!

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