7th-largest lottery jackpot in world history
By Todd Northrop
Last night, the multi-state Powerball lottery game produced no top winner for the 44th consecutive drawing, prompting lottery officials to raise the game's jackpot to an astonishing $1.5 billion.
A winner who chooses the cash option would receive a staggering lump-sum of $686.5 million.
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 $22.6 million and increases the payment every year until the final payment of $92.9 million in the 29th year, or do you opt for the lump-sum cash payment of $686.5 million all at once?
You can weigh the tax consequences of that choice state-by-state by visiting the Jackpot Analysis page at USA Mega, a website 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 lottery jackpot ever awarded was on Nov. 7, 2022, when one Powerball 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 houses one, two, and three, as well as being the subject of dubious lawsuits that are unfortunately predictable these days. (The lawsuit was thrown out last year.) One of those houses was destroyed in the 2025 Palisades fire, and Castro was later active in purchasing lots destroyed by the fire.
The rush of ticket sales over the next few days may propel the jackpot to an even higher amount before the drawing takes place Saturday. 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 Friday will be by visiting USA Mega (www.usamega.com) at 11:00 pm Eastern Time (8:00 pm Pacific), when the winning numbers will be published minutes after 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. 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 Wednesday, December 17, 2025 were 25, 33, 53, 62, and 66, with Powerball number 17. The Power Play number was 4.
The Wednesday Double Play drawing results were 24, 43, 65, 66, and 68, with Powerball number 3. Double Play is a game option currently available in 25 states, plus Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, 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, 8 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Arizona (with Power Play), 1 from Connecticut, 1 from Massachusetts (with Power Play), 3 from New York, 1 from Pennsylvania, and 1 from Tennessee.
Two of the second-prize tickets — those sold in Arizona and Massachusetts — were 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, 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.
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 Wednesday drawing, 86 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000. Of those tickets, 14 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $200,000, and 13 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $18,887 this drawing.
Following the Wednesday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $233.3 million from its previous amount of $1.2667 billion and the cash value was raised by $106.8 million from its previous amount of $579.7 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 7th-largest lottery jackpot in world history, as well as the 5th-largest in game history. The ticket-buying frenzy that is happening this week may push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time, and it may even rise in the historical rankings.
- Powerball: $2.0401 billion, Nov. 7, 2022 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
- Powerball: $1.7874 billion, Sep. 6, 2025 (41 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Missouri, Texas
- 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
- Powerball: $1.5 billion, Dec. 20, 2025 (44 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- 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: $1.3259 billion, Apr. 6, 2024 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Oregon
- Mega Millions: $1.269 billion, Dec. 27, 2024 (30 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
- Mega Millions: $1.128 billion, Mar. 26, 2024 (30 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - New Jersey
- 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
- Mega Millions: $983 million, Nov. 14, 2025 (39 rollovers, starting at $50 million) - Georgia
- Powerball: $842.4 million, Jan. 1, 2024 (34 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
- Mega Millions: $800 million, Sep. 10, 2024 (27 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Texas
- 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
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 10th-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
- Powerball: $820.6 million cash, Sep. 6, 2025 ($1.7874 billion annuity) - Missouri, Texas
- 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: $686.5 million cash, Dec. 20, 2025 ($1.5 billion annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Powerball: $621 million cash, Apr. 6, 2024 ($1.3259 billion annuity) - Oregon
- Mega Millions: $571.9 million cash, Dec. 27, 2024 ($1.269 billion annuity) - California
- 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
- Mega Millions: $536.6 million cash, Mar. 26, 2024 ($1.128 billion annuity) - New Jersey
- 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
- Mega Millions: $453.6 million cash, Nov. 14, 2025 ($983 million annuity) - Georgia
- Powerball: $450.2 million cash, Jan. 5, 2022 ($632.6 million annuity) - California, Wisconsin
- Powerball: $425.2 million cash, Jan. 1, 2024 ($842.4 million annuity) - Michigan
- Powerball: $407.2 million cash, Feb. 6, 2023 ($754.6 million annuity) - Washington
- Mega Millions: $404.2 million cash, Sep. 10, 2024 ($800 million annuity) - Texas
- Powerball: $396.2 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($687.8 million annuity) - Iowa, New York
The number of jackpot cash values in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 15
- Mega Millions: 10
i wasn't thinking about this. well lets see what happens. only the lottery knows when it will hit.
Wondering when MM will ever get pass 1.5 bil due to it increased to $5, people spend more at $2
imagine the possibilities !!
$686,500,000 Cash Value has such a nice ring to it. And that 1st payment Annuity figure of $22,577,153 isn't a bad number to start out at either. (tapping head like Winnie the Pooh) Which choice shall I make after Saturdays win
In a super groggy state around 3 a.m. kept asking Alexa what the PB jackpot was. Finally whipped out the phone and looked it up. She was right, mindset was the jackpot was $1.5 billion already and not all the states reported in and that Alexa was wrong.
Not one dollar here!
I hope it actually gets to $3 Billion so when I or someone hit it we can literally see someone walk away as a billionaire after cash option and taxes. That's what it's going to take. Everyone keep calling the record jackpot winner a billionaire and he's not. After winning the 2.034 Billion he ended up with $400 something million after taxes and everything and that great but in reality he's not a billionaire. Their level to this so I have a feeling it's going to break the California record and that when we will see things start getting interesting
You should get your facts straight first. He ended up with $620M+ after taxes.
CA doesn't tax lottery winnings.
I really need to hit his jackpot. My fave Lucky Charms 26 oz is 7 bucks and that just aint right.
would be interesting to see the PB set a new record
Correct as you can see in the original story about Castro claiming the prize, he got $628.5 million after taxes. (Link to that story is also included in the article above.)
Goodbye 1995 Honda Accord. Hello 2026 Bugatti
The Tourbillon or maybe the Brouillard ??? I am still a fan of the Chiron Supper Sport
"I hope it actually gets to $3 Billion so when I or someone hit it we can literally see someone walk away as a billionaire after cash option and taxes. "
It's not impossible, but it's going to take a lot more than $3 billion for that to happen unless interest rates go way down. Even if interest rates go way down it will still take the same amount of cash, and the same number of tickets without producing a winner sooner. With the current interest rate you'd net about 29% of the annuity value after paying 37% federal taxes on the cash. Right now that would leave you with $865 million if there's no state tax. If you also pay 6% state tax you'd net about 26%, so to finish with $1 billion you'd need to start with an advertised annuity of almost $4 billion.
About the only realistic chance of PB getting there starting from last night's rollover is making it a bit past $3 billion and then getting close enough to $4 billion on the next roll. To get to 3.3B requires another $928 million on top of last night's cash. That requires sales of close to 1.4 billion tickets. The chance of selling that many tickets without a winner is a bit less than 1%. If it lands on 3.7B a roll would presumably take it way past 4B, but that's another 250 million tickets and reduces the chances to about 0.37%, or slightly better than 1 in 300, after already rolling past 1.27B.
In the unlikely event it gets that big sales could be 500 million tickets or more. With 500 million tickets in play the chance of 1 winner is just over 31%, but the chance of multiple winners is almost 50%.
"would be interesting to see the PB set a new record "
It would be interesting to see PB set a new record that's real. That means a cash value of more than $997.6 million to bet Castro's prize. At the current interest rate that's 2.175 billion. If it gets to 2.05B PB will claim it's a new record, when it's almost $60 million (or 6%) shy of what Castro won.
Good luck everybody.
May whoever wins it play a quick pick in a state that allows winners to claim anonymously. 🤫
That will be me.
at You & CT ... thanks 4 jinxing yourselves
I didn't say it will be me so how did I jinx myself?
I didn't win the last time the jackpot was this big, so forget it.
I had a feeling it would roll over. As my son would say, "This could buy a whole lotta cheeseburgers."
Oh well, I am taking your advice and heading down to the store. Thank you.
The way life is going as of now I will have 6 less tickets for Saturday's drawing than I had for Wednesdays draw.
I still probably should have bought 7 less tickets than I did but anyhow.
Funny I had $26 to spend and I actually considered foregoing the power play in order to purchase lucky 13 tickets for the next drawing but instead got the pp option and now I have $2 to my name.
Come to the think of it I could have spent those 2 dollars on a power play less powerball. Oh well!
Have a shaggy day
ShagE3
If we're lucky, let's just get 'em all (Tourbillon, Brouillard, Chiron SS, Veyron SS, EB110, Type 57 Atlantic, etc.)!
First time ever posting on here. Been a long time Powerball player. I was buying tickets as far back as 1998 when I was 13 as I bribed gas station clerks to sell them to me. Lol. 1.5B dollars is insane. I'm hoping it gets split at least three ways. Who really needs 1.5B?!? Idk.
I'm still wondering, whose idea was to make it five dollars a ticket and I can see why what they did. They should've just made it three
Not sure they should have made it three. Most people play Powerball for $2 even though one more dollar would mean $2M instead o0f $1M for hitting 5 + 0. Three dollars and five dollars both appear to be 'sting numbers' for ticket prices.
One thing is certain for me - am not rushing to buy many tickets - two or three per draw - I have learnt over time that maybe that's all one needs.
I'm going to spurge and spend $20 on PB.
I don't know of anyone who buys the $5 MM tickets.
The Poisson distribution giving the probability of various numbers of winners, based on the anticipated sales figures estimated at the Texas Lottery website, $311,928,188, is as follows:
If sales exceed the estimate, the probability of a rollover, 0 winners, will go down, and the probability of each number winners will go up. The probabilities of six or more winners is not zero, but is less than 0.005%, but is rounded to two percentage decimal points.
PERFECT !!! Doesn't get much better than that
I think I would forget about fancy cars (I am 71) and find a nice quiet private island where it's warm and get away from the world madness.
I agree, 20 degrees out today, my bones don't like cold anymore and I'm 63.
We are not an anonymous state per se (KY), but go to the winner's page and many say anonymous as well as their FB page.
One thing 'they' told me playing on-line they will NOT cut separate checks like they would for in store purchases.
I see the cash option was updated, it is now $689.3 million. The annuity is still $1.5 billion.
Gerry Rafferty said it best; " Settle down in a quiet little town and forget about everything."
My rule is 1 ticket for every $100million of cash value so right now I have 6 tickets. I've been checking to see if it hits $700million because if it does, I need to get 1 more!
Jackpot updated: The cash option increased today from $686.5 million to $689.3 million.
Will it be raised again tomorrow before the drawing?
Very good ....
Good discipline indeed ......
Have a shaggy day!
ShagE3
"I see the cash option was updated, it is now $689.3 million. The annuity is still $1.5 billion. "
"Will it be raised again tomorrow before the drawing? "
The interest rate has dropped slightly, so each cash dollar will now buy $2.176 worth of annuity instead of $2.185 worth of annuity. Players are wildly unlikely to buy a different number of tickets because of a change in interest rate so it seems wildly unlikely that a legitimate sales forecast was revised upward exactly as much as required to buy a $1.5 billion annuity, but because the previously posted cash value will no longer be enough to buy the $1.5 billion advertised annuity they had no choice but to decide they'll magically have a bigger cash value. After all, the only other choice would be to revise the annuity value down to something less than $1.5 billion.
"Will it be raised again tomorrow before the drawing? "
"I've been checking to see if it hits $700 million because if it does, I need to get 1 more! "
Good news. You probably won't need to go out ticket shopping for this drawing. The newest worksheet reports the funded annuity as $1.475 billion, which would be $678 million cash. The estimated coverage has been revised down to a 39% chance of a winner. It's possible that sales will be better than expected, but the sales estimate that they use to report the funded annuity amount is based on a lot of experience with when people buy tickets, so I'd expect that an estimate after a full day of people buying tickets probably isn't wildly conservative,. Of course I'd be glad to be wrong about that and see it finish substantially past the advertised 1.5B
If it does roll they're only estimating $1.6 billion for Monday with a cash value of $735.3 million. I think their estimates for coverage on subsequent drawing are increasingly unrealistic, but the estimate for Monday is 29.8%, putting the chance of rolling to Wednesday at 42.8%. The estimated coverage for Wednesday is listed as 25.9% but there's pretty much zero chance that sales for Wednesday will be less than sales for Monday, unless it gets hit on Monday and Wednesday's jackpot is far smaller than Monday's. Even crazier, the estimate for next Saturday is only 28.3%, which corresponds to sales of about $195 million. I feel extremely confident that a sales estimate of $195 million for a jackpot that would have to be over 2B next Saturday is ridiculous when sales for this Saturday's 1.5B are estimated at $266 million.
Sorta brings a tear to your eye when that happens...... I could see the cash value reaching $700M
That is incorrect.
The cash option is not a calculation, it is a direct estimate based on actual + estimated remaining sales. The cash value going up means more tickets were sold to this point than were anticipated to be sold at this point.
The annuity certainly changed too, based on the updated cash amount, but likely not enough to change a "1.xx billion" precision format.
I did more quick picks am tired, I like the drill of figuring out numbers but not for next cple draws
i hate to play a number last draw and not the next
it seems people are tired of lottery or are we in a recession? (basing on the amount of money spent, back in Aug of this year when the jackpot was at $1.1B, people spent ~$250M for the jackpot. For this time around, people only spent about $130M for similar size of jackpot.
This 20-year-old Canadian lotto winner refused $1M in cash and chose $1,000/week for life.
she could have taken the money, then bought shares of ETF JEPI, it d earn her 35c monthly dividend for a share or ~$72K/ year versus $1000/week or $48K/ year; that doesn't include the capital gain.
This 20-year-old lotto winner refused $1M in cash and chose $1,000/week for life. Now she’s getting slammed for it. Which option would you pick?
I agree with that. Whenever I have thrown money at a game, it's usually a complete loss. It's probably a needful vibe that jinxes it.
I keep thinking shld I get another tkt or hold off til Sunday for Monday draw
Last night hit cash out button on the Historic Racing Machine for $1903. Slots are illegal in KY, so they 'skirt' the law by using altered slot machines to reflect old horse races. Low bets with a jackpot win of $600 and above are subject to Federal and State taxes and machine shuts off until reset after payout. However if you bet 'high' jackpots aren't taxed. A guy yesterday doing $100 bets won $5200 and $8500 and slot attendant said there was one other too. None of them taxable.
One feature I like is these do have RNG hardware, just old horse races which you can pull up though nobody bothers, certainly not me.
Be that as it may, perhaps will play on line later to complement my store bought ticket.
Are u buying more tickets just because you can budget wise?
Can't get anything past you, can I? Except sarcasm.
Along with the lower interest rate and a magically increased cash value, the sales estimate was revised downward from $312 million to $288.5 million. The estimate for the funded annuity was also revised downward from 1.502B to 1.475B. The only reason the posted cash value was raised is because the previously posted cash value can't buy a big enough annuity to match what they've advertised.
It's hardly the first time. For at least a couple of years a reduction in interest rates is magically accompanied by an increase in the cash value that's always exactly enough to save them the trouble of revising the annuity downward.
Oh that's right! To bad I can't edit it! Well thanks for the update. I'll be mindful next time. Take care
I read both articles
y'all are awesome
we are all hopeful
The interest rate is locked in when the lottery sets the estimate. It is not floating as you suggest. You're completely backwards in your analysis. I'd recommend viewing our video for how jackpots are calculated.
Do not talk such stupid stuff, be grateful for whatever you have won and netted in your pocket.
Hi folks,
I'm writing to inform you that you are no longer obligated to eat liverwurst or oliveloaf sandwiches before purchasing your tickets. I know it's last minute but if you already had an lv or ol sandwich beware cuz it isn't some magic wand whereby you eat it then head to lottery headquarters with winning ticket in hand.
Now that I got that off my chest .,..if there is a winner tonight and it's not me I'm hoping it is one of you, Todd and Kate included. Just don't let anyone or any of us know cuz even though we all would like to know someone on this board won it's safer to keep such matters close to the vest.
Have a shaggy day
ShagE3
This... https://youtu.be/b5-iJUuPWis?si=Xb9-ki_v_5Mwoh5d
Well #28 is hot
this was a nice run
Going large for monday with 5 tickets
Since the cash is in the $700million range, I'm buying 7 tickets.
$1.6 Billion!
1.5 billion is before taxes