$475 MILLION: Powerball jackpot nears a half-billion dollars

May 16, 2013, 12:50 am (131 comments)

Powerball

3rd largest lottery jackpot the world has ever seen

By Todd Northrop

You want to win a half-billion dollar jackpot?  For only the third time in history, it is possible — or will be, by the time Saturday's drawing comes around.

Let the frenzy begin.  Millions upon millions of people around the country will be lining up for their chance to claim the historic jackpot Saturday evening.

The Powerball jackpot is so huge that the next-highest jackpot in history is $85 million less than Saturday's initial estimate.

The new high-water mark of $475 million for the current Powerball jackpot was achieved after no winning tickets were sold for Wednesday night's $363.9 million grand prize.  And if past ticket sales are any indication of what will happen this week, the jackpot may get bigger — much bigger — by the time the drawing kicks off.

The lump-sum cash payout value of Wednesday's Powerball jackpot is a staggering $302.4 million.  After-tax cash and annuity prize amounts are reported state-by-state on the Jackpot Analysis page at USA Mega, a web site devoted to the Powerball and Mega Millions multi-state lottery games.

The cash payout value is the 3rd-largest in history.  Only Mega Million's record of $471 million, set on March 30, 2012, and Powerball's $384.7 million, awarded on Nov. 28, 2012, were larger than the cash value up for grabs Saturday.  (See list of all-time record annuity and cash jackpots below.)

In January, 2012, Powerball's pricing and prize structure changed, with the game's organizers claiming that the changes would produce bigger jackpots more often — and they were right.  Within the first year of the changes, Powerball produced five $300+ million jackpot run-ups, including a nearly $600 million jackpot in November, and the nearly $500 million jackpot Saturday.

Players should note that jackpot amounts are conservative estimates provided by the lotteries, and are often somewhat higher by the time the drawing occurs.  In this case, it may be a lot higher, almost certainly exceeding the half-billion dollar mark.

The historic prize is the result of 13 consecutive draws without a winner.  The run-up started as a $40 million prize on April 3, 2013.

The winning numbers for Wednesday, May 15, 2013 were 2, 11, 26, 34, and 41, with Powerball number 32.

Even though nobody won the jackpot Wednesday, 28 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Arkansas, 6 from California, 1 from Connecticut, 1 from Delaware, 2 from Georgia, 1 from Indiana, 1 from Kentucky, 2 from Massachusetts, 1 from Michigan, 1 from Missouri, 1 from Nebraska, 1 from New Jersey, 3 from New York, 1 from North Carolina, 2 from Ohio, 1 from Pennsylvania, 1 from South Dakota, and 1 from Virginia.

The 6 California second-prize winners will each be awarded $256,317, because California does not award fixed prizes.  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.

Only two of the second-prize winners purchased the Power Play option — the tickets sold in Delaware and Pennsylvania.  Because those two tickets were purchased with the Power Play option their second-prize win is automatically doubled to $2 million.  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.

122 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $10,000.  Of those tickets, 10 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $40,000, and 7 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $17,447 this drawing.

Following the Wednesday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $111.1 million from its previous amount of $363.9 million. The cash value was raised by $70.7 million from its previous amount of $231.7 million.

When a Powerball ticket is purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1 per ticket, any non-jackpot prize is increased according to a fixed prize schedule, which can be found on the Powerball Drawing Detail page at USA Mega, as well as on the Powerball Prize Payouts page at Lottery Post.

Powerball is now played in 43 states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Drawings are Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time.  Tickets cost $2 each.

A 44th Powerball state will be added some time in the next year, as the state of Wyoming has approved a new state lottery with the intention of joining Powerball and other multi-state lottery games.  (See Wyoming officially becomes 44th state with a lottery, Lottery Post, Mar. 14, 2013.)

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 3rd-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States.  The amount of the jackpot may rise before the drawing Saturday night, as lotteries are typically conservative in their initial estimates, and brisk sales may push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.

If nobody wins Saturday, it's anyone's guess how high it will go.

  1. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
  2. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 - Arizona, Missouri
  3. Powerball: $475 million, May 18, 2013 - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
  4. Mega Millions: $390 million, Mar. 6, 2007 - Georgia, New Jersey
  5. Mega Millions: $380 million, Jan. 4, 2011 - Idaho, Washington
  6. Powerball: $365 million, Feb. 18, 2006 - Nebraska
  7. The Big Game: $363 million, May 9, 2000 - Illinois, Michigan
  8. Powerball: $340 million, Oct. 19, 2005 - Oregon
  9. Powerball: $338.3 million, Mar. 23, 2013 - New Jersey
  10. Powerball: $337 million, Aug. 15, 2012 - Michigan
  11. Powerball: $336.4 million, Feb. 11, 2012 - Rhode Island
  12. Mega Millions: $336 million, Aug. 28, 2009 - California, New York
  13. The Big Game: $331 million, Apr. 16, 2002 - Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey
  14. Mega Millions: $330 million, Aug. 31, 2007 - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
  15. Mega Millions: $319 million, Mar. 25, 2011 - New York
  16. Mega Millions: $315 million, Nov. 15, 2005 - California
  17. Powerball: $314.9 million, Dec. 26, 2002 - West Virgina
  18. Powerball: $314.3 million, Aug. 25, 2007 - Indiana
  19. Powerball: $295.7 million, Jul. 29, 1998 - Indiana
  20. Powerball: $295 million, Aug. 25, 2001 - Delaware, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Hampshire
  21. Mega Millions: $294 million, Jul. 2, 2004 - Massachusetts
  22. Powerball: $276.3 million, Mar. 15, 2008 - West Virgina
  23. Mega Millions: $275 million, Feb. 22, 2008 - Georgia
  24. Mega Millions: $270 million, Feb. 28, 2006 - Ohio
  25. Mega Millions: $266 million, May 4, 2010 - California

For those keeping score, the number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

  • Mega Millions: 11
  • Powerball: 12
  • The Big Game: 2

The Big Game is the original name of Mega Millions, from the game's first drawing on Sep. 6, 1996 through May 14, 2002.  The name was changed to Mega Millions starting with the May 17, 2002 drawing.

Top 20 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.  The new Powerball jackpot ranks as the 2nd-highest ever in the United States.

  1. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
  2. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
  3. Powerball: $302.4 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($475 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
  4. Mega Millions: $240 million cash, Jan. 4, 2011 ($380 million annuity) - Idaho, Washington
  5. Mega Millions: $233.1 million cash, Mar. 6, 2007 ($390 million annuity) - Georgia, New Jersey
  6. Powerball: $224.7 million cash, Aug. 15, 2012 ($337 million annuity) - Michigan
  7. Mega Millions: $214 million cash, Aug. 28, 2009 ($336 million annuity) - California, New York
  8. Powerball: $211 million cash, Mar. 23, 2013 ($338.3 million annuity) - New Jersey
  9. Powerball: $210 million cash, Feb. 11, 2012 ($336.4 million annuity) - Rhode Island
  10. Mega Millions: $202.9 million cash, Mar. 25, 2011 ($319 million annuity) - New York
  11. Mega Millions: $194.4. million cash, Aug. 31, 2007 ($330 million annuity) - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
  12. Mega Millions: $185 million cash, Nov. 15, 2005 ($315 million annuity) - California
  13. The Big Game: $180 million cash, May 9, 2000 ($363 million annuity) - Illinois, Michigan
  14. Powerball: $177.3 million cash, Feb. 18, 2006 ($365 million annuity) - Nebraska
  15. Mega Millions: $168 million cash, July 2, 2004 ($294 million annuity) - Massachusetts
  16. Mega Millions: $167.7 million cash, Feb. 22, 2008 ($275 million annuity) - Georgia
  17. Powerball: $166 million cash, Aug. 25, 2001 ($295 million annuity) - Delaware, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Hampshire
  18. Mega Millions: $165.2 million cash, May 4, 2010 ($266 million annuity) - California
  19. Powerball: $164.4 million cash, won Oct. 19, 2005 ($340 million annuity) - Oregon
  20. Mega Millions: $164 million cash, Feb. 28, 2006 ($270 million annuity) - Ohio

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

whiteballz's avatarwhiteballz

we will see $500 million before Saturday night in my opinion. I'm getting my tickets now.

Teddi's avatarTeddi

It'll be at $515M by Saturday

Make that $525M

No, gotta be at least $560

 

Who am I kidding, I have no idea. It'll be a whole lot no matter what.

Teddi's avatarTeddi

Congrats to California for 6 million dollar winners. Just got in and already a rewarded more than anywhere else tonight. Insane!

 

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Make that, congrats Cali for having 6 winning tickets. Boo for you for your messed up system so they won't get the $1m each.

Win$500Quick's avatarWin$500Quick

Unbelieveable! Two huge jackpots for Florida lottery players.

joshuacloak's avatarjoshuacloak

it rolled over at higher amount  then last half billion PB jackpot

Powerball Jackpot for Sat, Nov 24, 2012 

$325,000,000  or $212,800,000 cash


rolled to

 Powerball Jackpot for Wed, Nov 28, 2012  $587,500,000 or $384,700,000 cash

plus we got CA now !

i think it will BEAT the old pb record

 587m for sure  , if not  close!

the only 2 jackpots to get to half billion number before this won both had more then 1 winner also

if 1 winner hits this only   say hello richest single lottery winner ever!

and i dare say billion dollar jackpot if it rolls again "this time its good as dead thro, like less then 5% chance it rolls, who knows anything possible"

 

i hope to god the poor sucker"or luckest person ever!" who wins this claims it in trust/hides  they will need it

media going to be all over winners.............

RedStang's avatarRedStang

Quote: Originally posted by Teddi on May 16, 2013

Congrats to California for 6 million dollar winners. Just got in and already a rewarded more than anywhere else tonight. Insane!

 

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Make that, congrats Cali for having 6 winning tickets. Boo for you for your messed up system so they won't get the $1m each.

Are you sure because it looks like tonights (6)  2nd place winners only get 256k. TG i'm not in cali.

whiteballz's avatarwhiteballz

Quote: Originally posted by Teddi on May 16, 2013

Congrats to California for 6 million dollar winners. Just got in and already a rewarded more than anywhere else tonight. Insane!

 

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Make that, congrats Cali for having 6 winning tickets. Boo for you for your messed up system so they won't get the $1m each.

what million dollar winner from California? California had six tickets matching 5 WB without the powerball. The 2nd prize winners will each get $256,317 before federal taxes.

maximumfun's avatarmaximumfun

Wow.  Personally I would rather win MM cuz that HUGE winner will fade into the background with all the PB fever!

Teddi's avatarTeddi

Quote: Originally posted by RedStang on May 16, 2013

Are you sure because it looks like tonights (6)  2nd place winners only get 256k. TG i'm not in cali.

Nope you're right. I forgot about Cali's weird payout system. I almost said I wish I was in Cali, now I'm glad I'm not. LOL.

whiteballz's avatarwhiteballz

Quote: Originally posted by Teddi on May 16, 2013

Nope you're right. I forgot about Cali's weird payout system. I almost said I wish I was in Cali, now I'm glad I'm not. LOL.

you got that right. Don't get me wrong, $256,317 is nothing to sneeze at but getting 5 wb without the powerball is probably a once in a life time event. I would want at least a million for it.

Piaceri

DancePartyBanana

ShowMeTheMoney$'s avatarShowMeTheMoney$

This is INSANE!!!  If history repeats itself, this advertised jackpot will increase several times before the actual, Saturday drawing.   It will be over half a billion dollars for sure.  I hope I'll be the one with those lucky jackpot numbers!!! Banana

alexnt55

Quote: Originally posted by whiteballz on May 16, 2013

we will see $500 million before Saturday night in my opinion. I'm getting my tickets now.

We will see 500 mill way befor we get to Saturday. If i remember right when the record JP of 588 was set it was from a rollover of 325 mill and the first advertised JP was showing 425 mill. Ticket sales were so strong that the 425 ended up being 588. There were 563 million in ticket sales for that one and California wasnt in it for that one so with Calif in it now and the early estimated JP is 475 opposed to 425 for that one i  think we will see at least 2 changes in the amount by Saturday night. I look for ending up over 600 mill. Only thing that will hurt it at all is that the Mega Mill JP is also big.

Teddi's avatarTeddi

Quote: Originally posted by whiteballz on May 16, 2013

you got that right. Don't get me wrong, $256,317 is nothing to sneeze at but getting 5 wb without the powerball is probably a once in a life time event. I would want at least a million for it.

Definitely with you on that. 250k before taxes, after they beat the odds and managed to get 5 of the numbers?  1 state over would get them the mil. They managed to match what everyone else matched and they'll get 75% less? That ain't right.

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