10th-largest jackpot in US history
By Todd Northrop
What a way to start the new year!
In the lottery world, 2024 is starting with a loud bang, as the multi-state Powerball game is holding a drawing for a whopping $810 million jackpot on New Year's Day.
The massive Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was achieved after no winning tickets were sold for Saturday night's $786.1 million grand prize.
It is the 10th-highest lottery jackpot in history, and the 5th-largest Powerball jackpot ever.
The lump-sum cash payout value of Monday's Powerball jackpot is $408.9 million — the 16th-largest ever recorded in United States lottery history. (See top 25 annuity and cash values below.)
Players looking to calculate what they would receive after the initial federal and state tax withholdings can find it all pre-calculated for each Powerball jurisdiction on the Jackpot Analysis page at USA Mega, a web site devoted to the Powerball and Mega Millions multi-state lottery games.
The largest Powerball jackpot ever awarded was on Nov. 7, 2022, when one ticket sold in California won a $2 billion grand prize. The incredibly lucky winner was Edwin Castro, who claimed the prize in February of 2023, providing minimal public information about himself. What little is known about Castro comes from public filings, and includes the purchases of house one, two, three, and four, as well as being the subject of dubious lawsuits that are unfortunately predictable these days.
Players should note that jackpot amounts are conservative estimates provided by the lotteries, and are often somewhat higher by the time the drawing occurs. For example, the original estimate for Saturday's drawing was $760 million, but by the time all the proceeds were counted just before draw-time, the jackpot had swelled to $786.1 million.
Monday's mammoth prize is the result of 29 consecutive draws without a winner. The run-up started as a $20 million prize on October 14th.
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 Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023 were 10, 11, 26, 27, and 34, with Powerball number 7. The Power Play number was 4.
The Saturday Double Play drawing results were 1, 4, 5, 6, and 42, with Powerball number 8. Double Play is a game option currently available in 22 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 and a list of states that offer the add-on game.
Even though nobody won the jackpot Saturday, 7 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Colorado, 1 from New York, 1 from Ohio, 1 from South Carolina, 1 from Tennessee, 1 from Texas, and 1 from West Virginia.
Two of the second-prize tickets — those sold in Texas and West Virginia — were 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.
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 Saturday drawing, 87 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000. Of those tickets, 20 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $200,000, and 10 of the tickets was sold in California, where the prize was worth $17,889 this drawing.
Following the Saturday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $23.9 million from its previous amount of $786.1 million and the cash value was raised by $12.1 million from its previous amount of $396.8 million.
The next Powerball drawing will take place Monday 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
Monday's Powerball jackpot currently stands as the 10th-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States. That position is unlikely to change before draw-time, since the next-highest jackpot is more than $1 billion.
- Powerball: $2.0401 billion, Nov. 7, 2022 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
- Powerball: $1.7649 billion, Oct. 11, 2023 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
- Mega Millions: $1.602 billion, Aug. 8, 2023 (31 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Florida
- Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California, Florida, Tennessee
- Mega Millions: $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - South Carolina
- Mega Millions: $1.348 billion, Jan. 13, 2023 (25 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maine
- Mega Millions: $1.337 billion, Jul. 29, 2022 (29 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Illinois
- Powerball: $1.0798 billion, Jul. 19, 2023 (38 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
- Mega Millions: $1.05 billion, Jan. 22, 2021 (36 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
- Powerball: $810 million, Jan. 1, 2024 (34 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Initial estimate, not won yet
- Powerball: $768.4 million, Mar. 27, 2019 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Wisconsin
- Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Massachusetts
- Powerball: $754.6 million, Feb. 6, 2023 (33 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Washington
- Powerball: $731.1 million, Jan. 20, 2021 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maryland
- Powerball: $699.8 million, Oct. 4, 2021 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
- Powerball: $687.8 million, Oct. 27, 2018 (21 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Iowa, New York
- Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 (18 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Mega Millions: $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013 (21 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - California, Georgia
- Powerball: $632.6 million, Jan 5, 2022 (39 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California, Wisconsin
- Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 (13 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Florida
- Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 (15 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Powerball: $559.7 million, Jan. 6, 2018 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $543 million, Jul. 24, 2018 (22 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
- Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 (34 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Indiana
The number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 16
- Mega Millions: 9
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 16th-largest cash value in U.S. history.
- Powerball: $997.6 million cash, Nov. 7, 2022 ($2.0401 billion annuity) - California
- Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
- Mega Millions: $877.8 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.537 billion annuity) - South Carolina
- Mega Millions: $794.2 million cash, Aug. 8, 2023 ($1.602 billion annuity) - Florida
- Mega Millions: $780.5 million cash, Jul. 29, 2022 ($1.337 billion annuity) - Illinois
- Mega Millions: $776.6 million cash, Jan. 22, 2021 ($1.05 billion annuity) - Michigan
- Powerball: $774.1 million cash, Oct. 11, 2023 ($1.7649 billion annuity) - California
- Mega Millions: $723.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2023 ($1.348 billion annuity) - Maine
- Powerball: $558.1 million cash, Jul. 19, 2023 ($1.0798 billion annuity) - California
- Powerball: $546.8 million cash, Jan. 20, 2021 ($731.1 million annuity) - Maryland
- Powerball: $496 million cash, Oct. 4, 2021 ($699.8 million annuity) - California
- Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
- Powerball: $477 million cash, Mar. 27, 2019 ($768.4 million annuity) - Wisconsin
- Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Powerball: $450.2 million cash, Jan. 5, 2022 ($632.6 million annuity) - California, Wisconsin
- Powerball: $408.9 million cash, Jan. 1, 2024 ($810 million annuity) - Initial estimate, not won yet
- Powerball: $407.2 million cash, Feb. 6, 2023 ($754.6 million annuity) - Washington
- Powerball: $396.2 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($687.8 million annuity) - Iowa, New York
- Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
- Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
- Powerball: $352 million cash, Jan. 6, 2018 ($559.7 million annuity) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $349.3 million cash, May 21, 2021 ($516 million annuity) - Pennsylvania
- Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($648 million annuity) - California, Georgia
The number of jackpot cash values in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 16
- Mega Millions: 9
I see it getting to a billion and if that happens watch out record pot $2 billion. People going to go crazy in 2024 to help build this thing up. Now I'm wondering if we will ever reached $3 billion level. 🤔 I'll be getting my tickets for sure in 2024 where dreams comes true 🍀🤞🏾
Would be a fun New Year's prize!
Happy New Year!
Can you imagine starting off the new year by winning $810 million on New Year's Day? Holy moly.
small minds = small thoughts
expanded capacity minds = unlimited possibilities
That would be the ultimate.
Todd I see NJ has Double play, seems to be catching on slowly nationwide. I now play that vs Powerplay because though the top prize is 'only' $1`0 million, I'd be happy with the secondary prize. Though you only get two plays for $3 vs Mega Millions just the jackpot with three chances you get nothing if something were to pop up, say five #'s.
ALL THE BEST
Totally agree. I always play double play, and most of the time I add power play too.
1st thing I'm gonna do after winning powerball is to thank ....... myself for purchasing the right ticket.
Afterwards, I will go to the supermarket pick up some sliced liverwurst at the deli as well as some mustard. I will then head over to the bakery and get a good sliced rye or pumpernickel bread . Lastly I will walk to produce and choose a nice tomato an red onion and some arugula and some bread and butter pickles and check out at the cashier line
Then I will go home and toss my bag of purchases in the trash barrel and go out to the steakhouse and enjoy a nice fillet mignon.
I feel like we're about to get a wild card. Maybe a winner out of Wyoming or US Virgin Islands..... or even a possible third consecutive Powerball jackpot win out of California.
..... Or it could go to New York or Texas because they're overdue for a Powerball jackpot win (statistically).
well you go for it as for hamofaguy no way ime done with lotterys forever not worth the lime life .
If it's gonna be anyone other than my family or other lottery posters winning on monday night I hope it goes to say North or South Dakota, Nebraska (so long as it isn't warren Buffett) or Oklahoma or Mississippi or some state not named New York , Texas or California or Florida. You know what I mean.
Some lucky basturd in Cali is going to win.