• E-mail to a friend
• Printer-friendly
• Link to this story

By Todd Northrop

One lucky ticket sold in Florida matched all six numbers in the Powerball lottery drawing Wednesday night, according to lottery officials.

That ticket ended up being worth $396.9 million, up from the estimated $394 million before the drawing. The winner will have an option to take a cash payment of $276.5 million instead of the annuity.

The massive haul is the 28th-largest US lottery jackpot of all time, and the cash value is the 20th-largest of all time.  (Full list is below.)

The winning Powerball numbers drawn on Jan. 29, 2020 were 9, 12, 15, 31, and 60, with Powerball number 2. The Powerplay multiplier was 2.

In addition to the big Florida winner, three tickets matched the first five white balls to win the $1 million second prize, including another one in Florida. The other two tickets were sold in Ohio and Virginia.

None of the second-prize winners purchased the Power Play option for an extra $1. If they had, their prize would have been doubled to $2 million.

Also in the Wednesday drawing, 40 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000.  Of those tickets, 8 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $100,000, and 7 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $15,103 this drawing.

Of interest is the massive and still-growing California second-prize pool, which has not been won in 42 drawings.  It has grown to $6,443,402 this drawing, and will be split by all the second prize Powerball winners from California, whenever that happens.  So California lottery players should continue to include Powerball in their play list, even though it has been knocked back to its starting point of $40 million.

When a Powerball ticket is purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1 per ticket, a second-prize win is doubled and any other non-jackpot prize is multplied by the Power Play number drawn that evening. A full chart of payout amounts can be found on the Powerball Drawing Detail page at USA Mega, as well as on the Powerball Prize Payouts page at Lottery Post.

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.

The last Powerball winner was from California on Nov. 2. It was claimed in December by a retiree and his wife who just celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary.

The next Powerball drawing will take place Saturday night at 10:59 pm Eastern Time.

Powerball is played in 45 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  (Mississippi became the 45th state starting today.)  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.

If you didn't win the Powerball, the Mega Millions jackpot has also been on the rise.

The jackpot is an estimated $155 million with a cash option of $108.3 million for Friday night's drawing, according to USA Mega. 

Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time

Wednesday's Powerball jackpot was the 28th-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States, and the 18th-largest Powerball jackpot ever.  (We expanded our chart below to the top-28 in order to show Wednesday's jackpot in relation to the others.)

1. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California, Florida, Tennessee
2. Mega Millions: $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - South Carolina
3. Powerball: $768.4 million, Mar. 27, 2019 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Wisconsin
4. Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Massachusetts
5. Powerball: $687.8 million, Oct. 27, 2018 (21 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Iowa, New York
6. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 (18 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
7. Mega Millions: $636 million, Dec. 17, 2013 (21 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - California, Georgia
8. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 (13 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Florida
9. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 (15 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Arizona, Missouri
10. Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
11. Powerball: $559.7 million, Jan. 6, 2018 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
12. Mega Millions: $543 million, Jul. 24, 2018 (22 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
13. Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 (34 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Indiana
14. Mega Millions: $533 million, Mar. 30, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Jersey
15. Mega Millions: $530 million, Jun. 7, 2019 (24 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
16. Powerball: $487 million, Jul. 30, 2016 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
17. Powerball: $456.7 million, Mar. 17, 2018 (19 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Pennsylvania
18. Mega Millions: $451 million, Jan. 5, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Florida
19. Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 (12 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
20. Powerball: $447.8 million, Jun. 10, 2017 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
21. Powerball: $435.3 million, Feb. 22, 2017 (18 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Indiana
22. Powerball: $429.6 million, May 7, 2016 (18 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Jersey
23. Powerball: $425.3 million, Feb. 19, 2014 (15 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
24. Mega Millions: $425 million, Jan. 1, 2019 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New York
25. Powerball: $420.9 million, Nov. 26, 2016 (19 rollovers, starting at $10 million) - Tennessee
26. Mega Millions: $414 million, Mar. 18, 2014 (20 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Florida, Maryland
27. Powerball: $399.4 million, Sep. 18, 2013 (11 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - South Carolina
28. Powerball: $396.9 million, Jan. 29, 2020 (24 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Florida

The number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

• Powerball: 16
• Mega Millions: 9

Top 25 cash value jackpots

The Wednesday Powerball jackpot ranks as the 20th-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: $877.8 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.537 billion annuity) - South Carolina
3. Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
4. Powerball: $476.9 million cash, Mar. 27, 2019 ($768.4 million annuity) - Wisconsin
5. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
6. Powerball: $396.2 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($687.8 million annuity) - Iowa, New York
7. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
8. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
9. Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
10. Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
11. Powerball: $352 million cash, Jan. 6, 2018 ($559.7 million annuity) - New Hampshire
12. Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($636 million annuity) - California, Georgia
13. Mega Millions: $345.2 million cash, Jun. 7, 2019 ($530 million annuity) - California
14. Powerball: $336.8 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire
15. Mega Millions: $324 million cash, Mar. 30, 2018 ($533 million annuity) - New Jersey
16. Mega Millions: $320.5 million cash, Jul. 24, 2018 ($543 million annuity) - California
17. Powerball: $284 million cash, May 7, 2016 ($429.6 million annuity) - New Jersey
18. Mega Millions: $281.9 million cash, Jan. 5, 2018 ($451 million annuity) - Florida
19. Powerball: $279.1 million cash, Jun. 10, 2017 ($447.8 million annuity) - California
20. Powerball: $276.5 million cash, Jan. 29, 2020 ($396.9 million annuity) - Florida
21. Powerball: $273.9 million cash, Mar. 17, 2018 ($456.7 million annuity) - Pennsylvania
22. Powerball: $263.5 million cash, Feb. 22, 2017 ($435.3 million annuity) - Indiana
23. Powerball: $258.2 million cash, Aug. 7, 2013 ($448.4 million annuity) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
24. Powerball: $254.7 million cash, Nov. 26, 2016 ($420.9 million annuity) - Tennessee
25. Mega Millions: $254.6 million cash, Jan. 1, 2019 ($425 million annuity) - New York

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

• Powerball: 16
• Mega Millions: 9