Jaw-dropping prize money on the line for Monday drawing

Cash option nearly $1 billion

By Todd Northrop

Last night Powerball didn't just set a new lottery jackpot record, it crushed the old record, putting the concept of a $2 billion lottery jackpot within reach.

When the 40th drawing of the current Powerball jackpot run was conducted last night, it produced a combination of numbers that most lottery players typically wouldn't choose on their own: All the numbers except one were greater than the "birthday number" range (31), and the Powerball was a lower number than all of the first five.

It was the kind of numbers that USA Mega owner Todd Northrop recommended to Newsweek Friday.

And true to form, nobody had selected those numbers — not even a lottery terminal's quick picks generated those numbers among the hundreds of millions of tickets printed. 

In the early morning hours Sunday, the lotteries finally determined that nobody has matched all the numbers drawn, and that a new world record would be established.

The new annuity jackpot record of $1.9 billion is accompanied by a cash value of $929.1 million — nearly a billion dollars in cash! That's enough to make it the second-highest cash value in history. 

To get to this size, the jackpot has been growing since it started on Aug. 6 as a $20 million prize — now 40 consecutive drawings without a winner.

Lottery players dreaming what all the cash will look like in their bank account after federal and state taxes are taken out can see an after-tax analysis of the current Powerball jackpot by visiting USA Mega's Powerball Jackpot Analysis page. Rather than simply showing the initial withholdings a lottery winner would face like other "copy cat" websites, the Jackpot Analysis page also includes the additional taxes that will be due after the initial withholdings, and will even allow players to see the taxes due under different filing statuses.

The rush of ticket sales over the next few days may propel the jackpot to an even higher amount before the drawing takes place Monday. Lottery Post and USA Mega will update the jackpot tallies displayed if such an increase occurs.

The quickest way to find the winning numbers after the drawing Monday will be by visiting USA Mega (www.usamega.com) at 10:59 pm Eastern Time (7:59 pm Pacific), when the winning numbers will be published live as they are drawn.

Players looking for the nearest official lottery retailer — or maybe just a different store without such a long line — are urged to use the free Lottery Places app available for iOS, Android, and Windows. The app can find lottery stores in every Powerball state and can search across state lines — something even official state lotteries can't do.

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.

In Saturday night's Powerball drawing, there was no jackpot winner, but 17 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 3 from California, 2 from Colorado, 1 from Florida, 1 from Georgia, 2 from Kentucky, 1 from Massachusetts, 1 from Michigan, 1 from Missouri, 1 from New Jersey, 1 from New York, 2 from Pennsylvania, and 1 from South Dakota. 

The California second-prize winners will be awarded $1,120,390 each instead of the fixed $1 million prize awarded in the other states. By law, California awards all lottery prizes on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning the prizes will change each drawing based on the number of tickets sold within California and the number of tickets that won at each prize level in the state.

Out of all the second-prize tickets, only the one sold in Kentucky was purchased with the Power Play option, doubling their prize 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 can be found on the Powerball Drawing Detail page at USA Mega, as well as on the Powerball Prize Payouts and the Powerball Double Play Prize Payouts pages at Lottery Post.

The Power Play option is not available in California, because the fixed nature of the prize increase offered with the Power Play is not compatible with California's pari-mutuel payouts.

Also, a total of 270 tickets matched four of the first five numbers plus the Powerball to win a $50,000 prize. Of those tickets, 51 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $150,000, and 43 were sold in California, where the prize awarded this drawing is $20,010.

The Powerball winning numbers for Saturday, November 5, 2022, were 28, 45, 53, 56, and 69, with Powerball number 20. The Power Play number was 3.

The Saturday Double Play drawing results were 4, 23, 27, 31, and 56, with Powerball number 15. Double Play is a game option currently available in 14 states that lets you play your numbers in a second drawing for an extra $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.

Following the Saturday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $243.2 million from its previous amount of $1.6568 billion. The cash value was raised by $146.7 million from its previous amount of $782.4 million.

Powerball is currently offered for sale in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 10:59 pm Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.

Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time

Monday's Powerball jackpot currently stands as the largest lottery jackpot in world history.

1. Powerball: $1.9 billion, Nov. 7, 2022 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
2. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California, Florida, Tennessee
3. Mega Millions: $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - South Carolina
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

For those keeping score, 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.

Looking at the cash value, the upcoming Powerball jackpot ranks as the 2nd-largest cash value in world history.

1. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
2. Powerball: $929.1 million cash, Nov. 7, 2022 ($1.9 billion annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
3. Mega Millions: $877.8 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.537 billion annuity) - South Carolina
4. Mega Millions: $780.5 million cash, Jul. 29, 2022 ($1.337 billion annuity) - Illinois
5. Mega Millions: $776.6 million cash, Jan. 22, 2021 ($1.05 billion annuity) - Michigan
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 cash value jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

• Mega Millions: 13
• Powerball: 12