Powerball ticket-buying frenzy this week

By Todd Northrop

This week lottery players across the United States will be pulling out all the stops to try and win Powerball, featuring one of the largest lottery jackpots in history, worth an estimated $1 billion.

The Powerball jackpot has been building for 38 consecutive drawings since the last winner on Apr. 19, when one ticket from Ohio won a $252.6 million jackpot. The ticket was sold at the Get Go at 265 Highland Road in Macedonia, Ohio, and was claimed by an anonymous trust. The winner chose the $134.7 million cash option, which amounts to roughly $79.5 million after state and local taxes are paid. 

Monday night when there were no Powerball jackpot winners, the new jackpot for Wednesday's drawing was estimated at $1 billion, with a lump-sum cash option of $516.8 million. More than a half-billion dollars in cash!

For the 3rd time, a Powerball jackpot has reached $1 billion. It is the 7th-largest lottery jackpot in US history, as well as the 7th-largest cash option ever offered. (See complete top-25 jackpot rankings for annuity and cash values below.)

Of course, any big winner (or winners) of Wednesday's Powerball jackpot will have to pay taxes on their prize, so the website USA Mega has a handy Powerball Jackpot Analysis page available to calculate the federal and state taxes that would be withheld upon payout. 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.

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 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 Monday, July 17, 2023 were 5, 8, 9, 17, and 41, with Powerball number 21.  The Power Play number was 4.

The Monday Double Play drawing results were 9, 37, 38, 62, and 69, with Powerball number 23. 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 Monday, 8 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Arkansas, 1 from Connecticut, 1 from Florida, 1 from Georgia, 1 from Kentucky, 1 from New York, 1 from Pennsylvania, and 1 from Texas.

The 3 second-prize tickets sold in Arkansas, Georgia, and Texas 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 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.

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, 116 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000.  Of those tickets, 28 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $200,000, and 9 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $19,460 this drawing.

Following the Monday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $78 million from its previous amount of $922 million and the cash value was raised by $40.3 million from its previous amount of $476.5 million.

The next Powerball drawing will take place Wednesday 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

Wednesday's Powerball jackpot currently stands as the 7th-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States, and the 3rd-largest Powerball jackpot ever.  Brisk sales will almost certainly push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.

Also shown is the current Mega Millions jackpot, which is simultaneously reaching historic levels — now sitting at 16th on the all-time rankings.

1. Powerball: $2.0401 billion, Nov. 7, 2022 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
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: $1.348 billion, Jan. 13, 2023 (25 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maine
5. Mega Millions: $1.337 billion, Jul. 29, 2022 (29 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Illinois
6. Mega Millions: $1.05 billion, Jan. 22, 2021 (36 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
7. Powerball: $1 billion, Jul. 19, 2023 (38 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
8. Powerball: $768.4 million, Mar. 27, 2019 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Wisconsin
9. Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Massachusetts
10. Powerball: $754.6 million, Feb. 6, 2023 (33 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Washington
11. Powerball: $731.1 million, Jan. 20, 2021 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maryland
12. Powerball: $699.8 million, Oct. 4, 2021 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
13. Powerball: $687.8 million, Oct. 27, 2018 (21 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Iowa, New York
14. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 (18 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
15. Mega Millions: $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013 (21 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - California, Georgia
16. Mega Millions: $640 million, Jul. 18, 2023 (25 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
17. Powerball: $632.6 million, Jan 5, 2022 (39 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California, Wisconsin
18. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 (13 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Florida
19. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 (15 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Arizona, Missouri
20. Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
21. Powerball: $559.7 million, Jan. 6, 2018 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
22. Mega Millions: $543 million, Jul. 24, 2018 (22 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
23. Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 (34 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Indiana
24. Mega Millions: $533 million, Mar. 30, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Jersey
25. Mega Millions: $522 million, Jun. 7, 2019 (24 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California

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 8th-largest cash value in U.S. history.

1. Powerball: $997.6 million cash, Nov. 7, 2022 ($2.0401 billion annuity) - California
2. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
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. Mega Millions: $723.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2023 ($1.348 billion annuity) - Maine
7. Powerball: $546.8 million cash, Jan. 20, 2021 ($731.1 million annuity) - Maryland
8. Powerball: $516.8 million cash, Jul. 19, 2023 ($1 billion annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
9. Powerball: $496 million cash, Oct. 4, 2021 ($699.8 million annuity) - California
10. Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
11. Powerball: $477 million cash, Mar. 27, 2019 ($768.4 million annuity) - Wisconsin
12. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
13. Powerball: $450.2 million cash, Jan. 5, 2022 ($632.6 million annuity) - California, Wisconsin
14. Powerball: $407.2 million cash, Feb. 6, 2023 ($754.6 million annuity) - Washington
15. Powerball: $396.2 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($687.8 million annuity) - Iowa, New York
16. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
17. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
18. Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
19. Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
20. Powerball: $352 million cash, Jan. 6, 2018 ($559.7 million annuity) - New Hampshire
21. Mega Millions: $349.3 million cash, May 21, 2021 ($516 million annuity) - Pennsylvania
22. Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($648 million annuity) - California, Georgia
23. Powerball: $341.7 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire
24. Mega Millions: $340 million cash, Jun. 7, 2019 ($522 million annuity) - California
25. Mega Millions: $328.5 million cash, Jul. 18, 2023 ($640 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet

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

• Powerball: 15
• Mega Millions: 10