$430 million: Powerball peaking at same time as Mega Millions
Over $1.3 billion in multi-state jackpots can be won this week
By Todd Northrop
This week has seen a frenzy of lottery tickets sales across the United States, with both Mega Millions and Powerball simultaneously reaching massive levels. With the Powerball jackpot increasing to $430 million after the Wednesday evening drawing, there is now close to $1.33 billion in combined jackpots on tap for lottery players this week.
Seasoned lottery players keep an eye on the lump-sum cash value of the jackpot, and the initial estimate is just as eye-popping: $248 million. And likely to grow even bigger before the drawing Saturday.
When compared against all lottery drawings conducted in United States lottery history, Saturday's Powerball jackpot ranks 19th all-time, with the cash value also ranking 21st among all cash values in history. (See the top 25 United States annuity and cash value jackpots below.)
Combined with the current $900 million Mega Millions jackpot to be drawn Friday night, there is a total of $1.33 billion in multi-state jackpots on offer to lottery players right now.
Of course, the big winner (or winners) will have to pay taxes on their prize, so USA Mega has a handy Powerball Jackpot Analysis page available to calculate the federal and state taxes that would be withheld upon the award of your nice big jackpot. A Mega Millions Jackpot Analysis is also available.
Players looking for a nearby lottery retailer — or that out-of-the-way retailer with a smaller line — are encouraged to use Lottery Places, an 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 can bypass the store completely and buy their Powerball lottery tickets online. Players outside the USA can try their luck with a reputable butler service.
Saturday's huge Powerball jackpot is the result of 19 consecutive draws without a winner. The run-up started as a $40 million prize on Aug. 15.
The winning numbers for Wednesday, October 17, 2018 were 3, 57, 64, 68, and 69, with Powerball number 15. The Power Play number was 3.
Even though nobody won the jackpot Wednesday, 4 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Florida, 1 from Kentucky, 1 from Massachusetts, and 1 from New Jersey.
Only one of the second-prize winners purchased the Power Play option — one of the tickets sold in Florida. Because that ticket was 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. 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.
55 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000. Of those tickets, 6 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $150,000, and 5 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $26,502 this drawing.
Following the Wednesday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $52 million from its previous amount of $378 million and the cash value was raised by $30 million from its previous amount of $218 million.
The next Powerball drawing will take place Saturday 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 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 19th-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States, and the 12th-largest Powerball jackpot ever. Brisk sales will almost certainly push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.
- Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 - California, Florida, Tennessee
- Mega Millions: $900 million, Oct. 19, 2018 - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 - Massachusetts
- Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Mega Millions: $636 million, Dec. 17, 2013 - California, Georgia
- Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 - Florida
- Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Powerball: $559.7 million, Jan. 6, 2018 - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $543 million, Jul. 24, 2018 - California
- Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 - Indiana
- Mega Millions: $533 million, Mar. 30, 2018 - New Jersey
- Powerball: $487 million, Jul. 30, 2016 - New Hampshire
- Powerball: $456.7 million, Mar. 17, 2018 - Pennsylvania
- Mega Millions: $451 million, Jan. 5, 2018 - Florida
- Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
- Powerball: $447.8 million, Jun. 10, 2017 - California
- Powerball: $435.3 million, Feb. 22, 2017 - Indiana
- Powerball: $430 million, Oct. 20, 2018 - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Powerball: $429.6 million, May 7, 2016 - New Jersey
- Powerball: $425.3 million, Feb. 19, 2014 - California
- Powerball: $420.9 million, Nov. 26, 2016 - Tennessee
- Mega Millions: $414 million, Mar. 18, 2014 - Florida, Maryland
- Powerball: $399.4 million, Sep. 18, 2013 - South Carolina
- 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 21st-largest cash value in U.S. history.
- Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
- Mega Millions: $513.4 million cash, Oct. 19, 2018 ($900 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
- Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
- Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
- Powerball: $352 million cash, Jan. 6, 2018 ($559.7 million annuity) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($636 million annuity) - California, Georgia
- Powerball: $336.8 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $324 million cash, Mar. 30, 2018 ($533 million annuity) - New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $320.5 million cash, Jul. 24, 2018 ($543 million annuity) - California
- Powerball: $284 million cash, May 7, 2016 ($429.6 million annuity) - New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $281.9 million cash, Jan. 5, 2018 ($451 million annuity) - Florida
- Powerball: $279.1 million cash, Jun. 10, 2017 ($447.8 million annuity) - California
- Powerball: $273.9 million cash, Mar. 17, 2018 ($456.7 million annuity) - Pennsylvania
- Powerball: $263.5 million cash, Feb. 22, 2017 ($435.3 million annuity) - Indiana
- Powerball: $258.2 million cash, Aug. 7, 2013 ($448.4 million annuity) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
- Powerball: $254.7 million cash, Nov. 26, 2016 ($420.9 million annuity) - Tennessee
- Powerball: $248 million cash, Oct. 20, 2018 ($430 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Mega Millions: $246.5 million cash, Aug. 11, 2017 ($393 million annuity) - Illinois
- Mega Millions: $240 million cash, Jan. 4, 2011 ($380 million annuity) - Idaho, Washington
- Mega Millions: $233.1 million cash, Mar. 6, 2007 ($390 million annuity) - Georgia, New Jersey
- 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
Double Climax
ooooo....
This is horrible and embarassing. I wonder if mm had this whole thing planned out seriously. I would be happy with just a million dollars.
Annuity - $430,000,000.00
Cash - $248,000,000.00
Total cash value for both Powerball and Mega Millions is
$761,400,000.000 as of 2018-10-18 @ 09:49 CT.
Little more than 3/4 of a Billion.
Think both jackpots will bump up today or tomorrow?? The frenzy is beginning....
Enough already! Let me off this crazy train! LOL Just kidding, I am with both MM & PB until I win.
Thank You, Todd, for the Top 25 lists.
These jackpots are why I play.
LoL im actually hoping that PB is won Saturday so I wont feel required to play. I said I would start once the jackpot pasts 500 million but maybe Ill wait for 600 Million.
Lottery Odds of winning both 1 in 88,412,922,115,818,300
That's 1 in 88 Quadrillion, 412 Trillion, 922 Billion, 115 Million, 818 Thousand, 3 Hundred.
The sales are crazy when comparing the two...here's an example.
1.) Last night PB jackpot saw a total of $119.7 Million in sales for a jackpot of $345 million meanwhile:
2.) Mega millions saw a total of $49.35 million in sales on October 2,2018 when the jackpot was $367 million. That means that people are spending more than 2x for a Power ball ticket right now. In fact MM sales for one draw didn't past 119.7 million until Tuesdays jackpot or 4 draws later (noted however that Friday's was close) This is a weird but interesting roller coaster that we're on right now.
The local paper said it best this morning. Just won the $900 million Mega Millions jackpot? Shut your mouth and call a lawyer.
Interviewing each prospective applicant will be difficult but necessary. Do not go down the path of past winners who lost it all. This will take time. Time will be on your side.
Maybe it's the 3rd tier prizes. Those who don't power up tickets would rather win $50,000 than $10,000.
Mega Millions is now $970 Million ( Cash value $548.6 Mil)
Here comes a billion dollar Annuity!!