3rd-largest lottery jackpot in world history

By Todd Northrop

Last night, the multi-state Powerball lottery game produced no top winner for the 39th consecutive drawing, prompting lottery officials to raise the game's jackpot to a near-record $1.5 billion.

A winner who chooses the cash option would receive a lump-sum $745.9 million — three-quarters of a billion dollars in cash!

It's the stuff that a lottery player's dreams are made of — holding a lottery ticket for an upcoming Powerball drawing with the potential to transform your life in every way.

Do you choose the annuity, which has an initial payment of $22 million and increases the payment every year until the final payment of $92 million in the 29th year, or do you opt for the lump-sum cash payment of $745.9 million all at once?

You can weight the tax consequences of that choice state-by-state by visiting the Jackpot Analysis page at USA Mega, a web site devoted to the Powerball and Mega Millions multi-state lottery games. The feature calculates both the initial withholdings and the final tax burden due at the end of the year, and even can show taxes calculated for different IRS filing statuses.

The largest Powerball jackpot ever awarded was on January 13, 2016, when three tickets from California, Florida, and Tennessee shared a $1.6 billion grand prize.  The Florida and Tennessee winners claimed their prizes quickly, but the California winner waited about six months to claim their share.

Players looking for a nearby lottery retailer — or that out-of-the-way retailer with a smaller line — are encouraged to use Lottery Places, the only 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.

Some states offer direct online sales, allowing players to bypass the store and purchase tickets from home. States that offer this ability include Colorado (Mega Millions and Powerball), Michigan (Mega Millions and Powerball), Minnesota (Mega Millions and Powerball), Oregon (Mega Millions and Powerball), Texas (Mega Millions and Powerball), and Virginia (Mega Millions and Powerball). Note that some of these links will only work properly for residents of the states mentioned.

Players outside the USA can use a reputable butler service, which provides scanned copies of the purchased lottery tickets securely held on behalf of the customer. In the past, the lottery ticket service was used by people out side the USA to win big jackpots in Oregon and Florida.

The winning numbers for Wednesday, November 2, 2022 were 2, 11, 22, 35, and 60, with Powerball number 23.  The Power Play number was 2.

The Wednesday Double Play drawing results were 20, 34, 37, 57, and 67, with Powerball number 26. Double Play is a game option currently available in 14 states that lets you play your numbers in a second drawing for $1 per play, with a chance to win up to $10 million in cash. See How to Play Powerball at USA Mega for more information about Double Play.

Even though nobody won the jackpot Wednesday, 19 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Arizona, 1 from Arkansas, 2 from California, 1 from Colorado, 2 from Georgia, 2 from Maryland, 1 from Minnesota, 1 from Montana, 3 from New Jersey, 1 from New York, 1 from North Carolina, 1 from Oregon, 1 from Texas, and 1 from Virginia. (The California winners each will claim a prizes of $1,044,212, due to the state's pari-mutuel payout formula.)

3 of the second-prize tickets sold in Arkansas, Montana, and New Jersey were purchased the Power Play option for an extra $1 per play, doubling their prizes to $2 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 complete list of prizes available for matching various numbers, as well as the official drawing videos, can be found on the Powerball Drawing Detail page at USA Mega. Lottery Post also publishes the complete list of Powerball Prize Payouts and the Powerball Double Play Prize Payouts.

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.

Also in the Monday drawing, 238 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000.  Of those tickets, 49 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $100,000, and 26 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $20,563 this drawing.

Following the Monday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $252.3 million from its previous amount of $1.2477 billion and the cash value was raised by $125.5 million from its previous amount of $620.4 million.

For information about how these jackpot amounts are calculated, check out the Lottery Post feature video, How are lottery jackpots are calculated?

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

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: $1.5 billion, Nov. 5, 2022 (39 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Prelimiary estimate, not won yet
4. Mega Millions: $1.337 billion, Jul. 29, 2022 (29 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Illinois
5. Mega Millions: $1.05 billion, Jan. 22, 2021 (36 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
6. Powerball: $768.4 million, Mar. 27, 2019 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Wisconsin
7. Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Massachusetts
8. Powerball: $731.1 million, Jan. 20, 2021 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maryland
9. Powerball: $699.8 million, Oct. 4, 2021 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
10. Powerball: $687.8 million, Oct. 27, 2018 (21 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Iowa, New York
11. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 (18 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
12. Mega Millions: $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013 (21 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - California, Georgia
13. Powerball: $632.6 million, Jan 5, 2022 (39 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California, Wisconsin
14. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 (13 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Florida
15. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 (15 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Arizona, Missouri
16. Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
17. Powerball: $559.7 million, Jan. 6, 2018 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
18. Mega Millions: $543 million, Jul. 24, 2018 (22 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
19. Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 (34 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Indiana
20. Mega Millions: $533 million, Mar. 30, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Jersey
21. Mega Millions: $522 million, Jun. 7, 2019 (24 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
22. Mega Millions: $516 million, May 21, 2021 (26 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Pennsylvania
23. Mega Millions: $502 million, Oct. 14, 2022 (21 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California, Florida
24. Powerball: $487 million, Jul. 30, 2016 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
25. Powerball: $473.1 million, Apr. 27, 2022 (30 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Arizona

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

• Powerball: 14
• Mega Millions: 11

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.

The upcoming Powerball jackpot ranks as the 5th-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. Mega Millions: $780.5 million cash, Jul. 29, 2022 ($1.337 billion annuity) - Illinois
4. Mega Millions: $776.6 million cash, Jan. 22, 2021 ($1.05 billion annuity) - Michigan
5. Powerball: $745.9 million cash, Nov. 5, 2022 ($1.5 billion annuity) - Prelimiary estimate, not won yet
6. Powerball: $546.8 million cash, Jan. 20, 2021 ($731.1 million annuity) - Maryland
7. Powerball: $496 million cash, Oct. 4, 2021 ($699.8 million annuity) - California
8. Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
9. Powerball: $477 million cash, Mar. 27, 2019 ($768.4 million annuity) - Wisconsin
10. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
11. Powerball: $450.2 million cash, Jan. 5, 2022 ($632.6 million annuity) - California, Wisconsin
12. Powerball: $396.2 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($687.8 million annuity) - Iowa, New York
13. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
14. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
15. Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
16. Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
17. Powerball: $352 million cash, Jan. 6, 2018 ($559.7 million annuity) - New Hampshire
18. Mega Millions: $349.3 million cash, May 21, 2021 ($516 million annuity) - Pennsylvania
19. Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($648 million annuity) - California, Georgia
20. Powerball: $341.7 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire
21. Mega Millions: $340 million cash, Jun. 7, 2019 ($522 million annuity) - California
22. Mega Millions: $324 million cash, Mar. 30, 2018 ($533 million annuity) - New Jersey
23. Mega Millions: $320.5 million cash, Jul. 24, 2018 ($543 million annuity) - California
24. Mega Millions: $319.9 million cash, Jun. 9, 2020 ($414 million annuity) - Arizona
25. Mega Millions: $314.4 million cash, Sep. 21, 2021 ($431 million annuity) - New York

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

• Mega Millions: 13
• Powerball: 12