By Todd Northrop
There was no jackpot winner in the Saturday night drawing of the multi-state Powerball lottery game, causing the grand prize to increase to an estimated $284 million for Wednesday's drawing.
Saturday was the 13th consecutive drawing without a jackpot winner. The jackpot run started December 28 as a $40 million jackpot.
The estimated cash value for the new jackpot is $162.7 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.
Players should note that jackpot amounts are conservative estimates provided by the lotteries, and are often somewhat higher by the time the drawing occurs. For example, the original estimate for Saturday's drawing was $247 million, but by the time all the proceeds were counted just before draw-time, the jackpot had swelled to $253.3 million.
Although there were no jackpot winners Saturday, 10 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 2 from California, 1 from Colorado, 1 from Florida, 1 from New Jersey, 2 from New York, 1 from Oklahoma, 1 from Texas, and 1 from West Virginia.
None of the second-prize winners purchased the Power Play option for an extra $1 per ticket. If they had, their second-prize win would have been 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. 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.
48 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 $20,000, and 5 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $10,137 this drawing.
The Powerball winning numbers for Saturday, February 8, were 24, 25, 34, 37, and 54, with Powerball number 29. The Power Play number was 2.
Following the Saturday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $30.7 million from its previous amount of $253.3 million. The cash value was raised by $16.6 million from its previous amount of $146.1 million.
The next Powerball drawing will take place Wednesday night at 10:59 pm Eastern Time.
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 pm Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.
A 44th Powerball state will be added later this 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.)
The Powerball winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.
I think 162.7 million( take home of approx 98.2 after the federal redistribution program) will do just nicely
I just need 5 numbers to get out of debt and finish paying for my PhD. Why does it come so easy for some people, geesh!
More Money!
IMAGINE WINNING THE $284 MILLION POWERBALL LOTTERY JACKPOT.
Congrats on your PhD. That is a major accomplishment!
There are more PhD holders in this forum than you can imagine. I mean folk like Ridge, Coin Toss, JonD & others have had those sheepskins for years. That one dude from Kentucky says he has one, l would not know.l am trying to get through my Master's myself , so l feel your pain.We hope you are able to achieve yours real soon.
Just keep hoping & playing.
Don't discount your accomplishment. That's a huge deal. BIG CONGRATS!!
Some would say that winning the lottery is a lot easier to come by than a doctorate. One takes luck, the other takes brains, determination and ambition. And if that doesn't do it for you, think how long Gloria had to wait before she won that haul. It paid off in the end.
INDEED THRIFTY!
$284 Million Woo Hoo
Relax buddy. It only costs $2 to play SOMEDAY.
Lottery players are all competing for that money.LOL
Lottery winners practice Shamanism.
To spend playing the lottery. Keep throwing $2 to the pool of possible winners.
Does Todd have a PHD in Mathematics?
I can't be excited until I win the $284 Million Powerball lottery jackpot.
I am going to buy 1 Powerball lottery ticket on my 120th Birthday.
I got my multi draw $6 ticket for wednesday in play and I will take the $2 million instead of the $8 I won last night. Just saying.-weshar75
Annuity
$284,000,000
Cash
$162,700,000
Lump-sum cash: $162,700,000
- 25% Federal Tax = - $40,675,000 = $122,025,000
The states like PA that don't take state tax on lottery wins are the best. But even the once that take the most state tax on lottery wins still walk away with well over 100 mill after cash option, federal, and state taxes.
I am with you some people are so selfish. lol (I wish I could get 5 #1's and 1 mill.) Make me so happy. That's all I need.
1 Mill is not what it use to be, but it's enough to last a life time unless you are stupid with the $. lol
My Name say it all.
Party,
your 25% figure is correct on the initial withholding..but you are forgetting that the total amount is considered income. The current top income tax in any large lottery bracket is 39.6 %. You WILL make up the remaining 14.6 % by April 15th the following year(minus any deductions that you can come up with). Uncle Sam won't let you off that easy. I only deducted federal Tax because I am in one of the states that doesnt have a state income tax or a tax on dividends/interest income(N.H & TN)
I wasn't aware that PA lottery was tax free..That's a major plus. Thanks for the info
Im ready to win on wednesday! Picked up my qp today, now i will just wait for lady luck to find me!
Thank you and I promise to stick with a set of numbers I have been playing since 1998. It will eventually show its face:)
More money for us in PA!
Yes it do.
Don't go to the dark side, my friend.
It's a whited sepulchre full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
They said that the Mayans were shamanic priests, because they understood time more than anybody else. Lottery players are always trying to beat time. LOL