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 $1.725 billion.

The Powerball jackpot has been building for 35 consecutive drawings since the last winner on July 22. All those drawings have accumulated a massive pile of cash, ready to provide multi-generational wealth to the lucky lottery player who wins it all.

Monday night when there were no Powerball jackpot winners, the new jackpot for Wednesday's drawing was estimated at $1.725 billion, with a lump-sum cash option of $756.6 million. Three-quarters of a billion dollars in cash!

It is the 2nd-largest lottery jackpot in US history, and 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. Players can see if they can play Powerball online by tapping the link. Depending on the physical location of the person, the link will either provide access via a licensed butler service or the official state lottery itself.

Butler services provide scanned copies of the purchased lottery tickets securely held on behalf of the customer. In the past, such lottery ticket services were used by people out side the USA to win big jackpots in Oregon and Florida.

The winning numbers for Monday, October 9, 2023 were 16, 34, 46, 55, and 67, with Powerball number 14.  The Power Play number was 3.

The Monday Double Play drawing results were 1, 20, 33, 49, and 59, with Powerball number 10. Double Play is a game option currently available in 18 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, 5 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from California, 1 from Florida, 1 from Indiana, 1 from Oregon, and 1 from Virginia. (The California winner will claim a prize of $1,064,543, due to the state's pari-mutuel payout formula.)

Only the one second-prize ticket sold in Florida was purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1 per play, 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 official drawing videos can also be found on the Powerball Drawing Detail page at USA Mega.

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, 118 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000.  Of those tickets, 17 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $150,000, and 22 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $12,387 this drawing.

Following the Monday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $159.8 million from its previous amount of $1.5652 billion and the cash value was raised by $70.1 million from its previous amount of $686.5 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 2nd-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States.  Brisk sales will almost certainly push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.

1. Powerball: $2.0401 billion, Nov. 7, 2022 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
2. Powerball: $1.725 billion, Oct. 11, 2023 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
3. Mega Millions: $1.602 billion, Aug. 8, 2023 (31 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Florida
4. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California, Florida, Tennessee
5. Mega Millions: $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - South Carolina
6. Mega Millions: $1.348 billion, Jan. 13, 2023 (25 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maine
7. Mega Millions: $1.337 billion, Jul. 29, 2022 (29 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Illinois
8. Powerball: $1.0798 billion, Jul. 19, 2023 (38 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
9. Mega Millions: $1.05 billion, Jan. 22, 2021 (36 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
10. Powerball: $768.4 million, Mar. 27, 2019 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Wisconsin
11. Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Massachusetts
12. Powerball: $754.6 million, Feb. 6, 2023 (33 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Washington
13. Powerball: $731.1 million, Jan. 20, 2021 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maryland
14. Powerball: $699.8 million, Oct. 4, 2021 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
15. Powerball: $687.8 million, Oct. 27, 2018 (21 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Iowa, New York
16. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 (18 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
17. Mega Millions: $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013 (21 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - California, Georgia
18. Powerball: $632.6 million, Jan 5, 2022 (39 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California, Wisconsin
19. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 (13 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Florida
20. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 (15 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Arizona, Missouri
21. Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
22. Powerball: $559.7 million, Jan. 6, 2018 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
23. Mega Millions: $543 million, Jul. 24, 2018 (22 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
24. Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 (34 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Indiana
25. Mega Millions: $533 million, Mar. 30, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Jersey

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

• Powerball: 15
• Mega Millions: 10

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 7th-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: $794.2 million cash, Aug. 8, 2023 ($1.602 billion annuity) - Florida
5. Mega Millions: $780.5 million cash, Jul. 29, 2022 ($1.337 billion annuity) - Illinois
6. Mega Millions: $776.6 million cash, Jan. 22, 2021 ($1.05 billion annuity) - Michigan
7. Powerball: $756.6 million cash, Oct. 11, 2023 ($1.725 billion annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
8. Mega Millions: $723.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2023 ($1.348 billion annuity) - Maine
9. Powerball: $558.1 million cash, Jul. 19, 2023 ($1.0798 billion annuity) - California
10. Powerball: $546.8 million cash, Jan. 20, 2021 ($731.1 million annuity) - Maryland
11. Powerball: $496 million cash, Oct. 4, 2021 ($699.8 million annuity) - California
12. Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
13. Powerball: $477 million cash, Mar. 27, 2019 ($768.4 million annuity) - Wisconsin
14. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
15. Powerball: $450.2 million cash, Jan. 5, 2022 ($632.6 million annuity) - California, Wisconsin
16. Powerball: $407.2 million cash, Feb. 6, 2023 ($754.6 million annuity) - Washington
17. Powerball: $396.2 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($687.8 million annuity) - Iowa, New York
18. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
19. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
20. Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
21. Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
22. Powerball: $352 million cash, Jan. 6, 2018 ($559.7 million annuity) - New Hampshire
23. Mega Millions: $349.3 million cash, May 21, 2021 ($516 million annuity) - Pennsylvania
24. Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($648 million annuity) - California, Georgia
25. Powerball: $341.7 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire

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

• Powerball: 16
• Mega Millions: 9