2nd-largest lottery jackpot the world has ever seen!

Cash value nearly half-billion dollars

By Todd Northrop

Spurred on by a surge of lottery ticket sales, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) has raised the official estimate for Wednesday's Powerball drawing to $700 million.

With a new lump-sum cash estimate of $443.3 million, a single-ticket winner of the drawing would receive nearly a half-billion dollars in cash.

And it may not stop there.

Players should watch for further jackpot increases before the Wednesday drawing. Long lines of ticket buyers across the nation are generating lottery ticket sales at unprecedented levels. Players should not wait until the last minute to buy their their tickets.

Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director Gordon Medenica expressed what many are feeling during this jackpot surge: "So happy to see the excitement building again! Great fun!"

Wednesday's jackpot started at $40 million on June 14th, and is the result of 20 drawings with no jackpot winner.

The final jackpot tally will be announced during the live draw show on Wednesday night, although it's still possible the official estimate will be increased again before then.

Although many players will purchase multiple tickets to increase their chances of winning, state lotteries are cautioning restraint.

"As always, we encourage players to play responsibly. It only takes one ticket to win. Pool play is very popular with big jackpots, and this reinforces the community aspect of playing Powerball with your friends and coworkers," said Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Director Bishop Woosley.

Wednesday's Powerball grand prize is the second-largest lottery jackpot in world history. The only larger lottery jackpot ever awarded was on January 13, 2016, when three tickets from California, Florida, and Tennessee shared a $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot.

Although some lottery players (and some in the news media) believe Spain's El Gordo carries the second-largest lottery jackpot in the world, this is not the case. El Gordo, despite being termed a "lottery" is actually a raffle-style game, and the top prize is always divided between hundreds of winners. It is like a lottery scratch game in which is the total available prize pool of up to hundreds of millions of dollars is split between thousands of winners, and is not considered a "jackpot".

A jackpot is a large cash prize that accumulates until it is won, whereas a prize pool is the total value awarded to all players of a game. Thus, Powerball has the largest jackpot in world history, while El Gordo has the largest prize pool. Some may believe this is splitting hairs, but in the lottery industry it is an important distinction, and unfortunately one that the mainstream news media cares little to differentiate.

Powerball jackpots start at $40 million and roll until the jackpot is won. Players win the jackpot by matching five numbers from a field of 69 numbers and one Powerball number from a field of 26 numbers. Drawings are conducted each Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 pm Eastern Time.

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.

Players looking to calculate what they would receive after the initial federal and state tax withholdings can find it all pre-calculated for each Powerball jurisdiction on the Jackpot Analysis page at USA Mega.

Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time

Wednesday's Powerball jackpot currently stands as the second-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States — and in the world.  The amount of the jackpot may rise even further before the drawing Wednesday night, as lotteries are typically conservative in their initial estimates, and brisk sales will certainly continue to push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.

If nobody wins Wednesday things will get really interesting.

1. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 - California, Florida, Tennessee
2. Powerball: $700 million, Aug. 23, 2017 - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
3. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
4. Mega Millions: $636 million, Dec. 17, 2013 - California, Georgia
5. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 - Florida
6. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 - Arizona, Missouri
7. Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
8. Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 - Indiana
9. Powerball: $487 million, Jul. 30, 2016 - New Hampshire
10. Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
11. Powerball: $447.8 million, Jun. 10, 2017 - California
12. Powerball: $435.3 million, Feb. 22, 2017 - Indiana
13. Powerball: $429.6 million, May 7, 2016 - New Jersey
14. Powerball: $425.3 million, Feb. 19, 2014 - California
15. Powerball: $420.9 million, Nov. 26, 2016 - Tennessee
16. Mega Millions: $414 million, Mar. 18, 2014 - Florida, Maryland
17. Powerball: $399.4 million, Sep. 18, 2013 - South Carolina
18. Mega Millions: $393 million, Aug. 11, 2017 - Illinois
19. Mega Millions: $390 million, Mar. 6, 2007 - Georgia, New Jersey
20. Mega Millions: $380 million, Jan. 4, 2011 - Idaho, Washington
21. Powerball: $365 million, Feb. 18, 2006 - Nebraska
22. The Big Game: $363 million, May 9, 2000 - Illinois, Michigan
23. Powerball: $340 million, Oct. 19, 2005 - Oregon
24. Powerball: $338.3 million, Mar. 23, 2013 - New Jersey
25. Powerball: $337 million, Aug. 15, 2012 - Michigan

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

• Powerball: 17
• Mega Millions: 7
• The Big Game: 1

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 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 3rd-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: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
3. Powerball: $443.3 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($700 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
4. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
5. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
6. Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
7. Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
8. Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($636 million annuity) - California, Georgia
9. Powerball: $336.8 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire
10. Powerball: $284 million cash, May 7, 2016 ($429.6 million annuity) - New Jersey
11. Powerball: $279.1 million cash, Jun. 10, 2017 ($447.8 million annuity) - California
12. Powerball: $263.5 million cash, Feb. 22, 2017 ($435.3 million annuity) - Indiana
13. Powerball: $258.2 million cash, Aug. 7, 2013 ($448.4 million annuity) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
14. Powerball: $254.7 million cash, Nov. 26, 2016 ($420.9 million annuity) - Tennessee
15. Mega Millions: $246.5 million cash, Aug. 11, 2017 ($393 million annuity) - Illinois
16. Mega Millions: $240 million cash, Jan. 4, 2011 ($380 million annuity) - Idaho, Washington
17. Mega Millions: $233.1 million cash, Mar. 6, 2007 ($390 million annuity) - Georgia, New Jersey
18. Mega Millions: $230.9 million cash, Mar. 18, 2014 ($414 million annuity) - Florida, Maryland
19. Powerball: $227.8 million cash, Feb. 19, 2014 ($425.3 million annuity) - California
20. Powerball: $224.7 million cash, Aug. 15, 2012 ($337 million annuity) - Michigan
21. Powerball: $223.3 million cash, Sep. 18, 2013 ($399.4 million annuity) - South Carolina
22. Mega Millions: $214 million cash, Aug. 28, 2009 ($336 million annuity) - California, New York
23. Powerball: $211 million cash, Mar. 23, 2013 ($338.3 million annuity) - New Jersey
24. Powerball: $210 million cash, Feb. 11, 2012 ($336.4 million annuity) - Rhode Island
25. Mega Millions: $202.9 million cash, Mar. 25, 2011 ($319 million annuity) - New York

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

• Powerball: 16
• Mega Millions: 9