5th-largest lottery jackpot in world history set for Monday drawing

By Todd Northrop

Following the massive Powerball drawing worth $1.43 billion Saturday night, get ready to head back to your local lottery retailer, because things have gotten even more interesting.

That's because nobody won that Powerball lottery jackpot Saturday night, sending the Monday jackpot to heights only seen four times previously in world lottery history.

Monday's Powerball jackpot is currently estimated at $1.6 billion, with a lump-sum cash value of $735.3 million. And based on past multi-state lottery jackpots, that estimate may get bigger by the time the drawing kicks off Monday night.

To get to this size, the jackpot has been growing since it started on September 8 as a $20 million prize — now a record 45 consecutive drawings without a winner.

The previous record-holder for the number of drawings without a winner was set on Sept. 6, 2025, when two tickets sold in Missouri and Texas split a $1.7874 billion jackpot after 41 draws without a winner. Both tickets have been claimed: the Missouri winner is a self-described homebody and the Texas portion was claimed by a trust. 

Monday's $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot is the 4th-largest in the game's history, and the 5th-largest lottery jackpot in world history.

The lump-sum cash value of $735.3 million is the 9th-largest on the all-time lottery jackpot cash value rankings (see full list below).

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 likely will 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 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.

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 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 within minutes of the drawing.

In Saturday night's Powerball drawing, there was no jackpot winner, but 8 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from California, 1 from Florida, 1 from Iowa, 1 from Massachusetts, 2 from Michigan, 1 from New Hampshire, and 1 from Ohio. 

The California second-prize winner will be awarded $2,323,527 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.

None of the second-prize tickets were purchased with the Power Play option. If they had, their prize would have doubled 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.

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 134 tickets matched four of the first five numbers plus the Powerball to win a $50,000 prize. Of those tickets, 22 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $150,000, and 24 were sold in California, where the prize awarded this drawing is $14,553.

The Powerball winning numbers for Saturday, December 20, 2025, were 4, 5, 28, 52, and 69, with Powerball number 20. The Power Play number was 3.

The Saturday Double Play drawing results were 5, 8, 19, 23, and 43, with Powerball number 6. 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 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 $165.4 million from its previous amount of $1.4346 billion. The cash value was raised by $76 million from its previous amount of $659.3 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.

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 5th-largest lottery jackpot in world history.  That position may rise before the drawing, as lotteries are typically conservative in their initial estimates, and brisk sales may 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: $1.7874 billion, Sep. 6, 2025 (41 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Missouri, Texas
3. Powerball: $1.7649 billion, Oct. 11, 2023 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
4. Mega Millions: $1.602 billion, Aug. 8, 2023 (31 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Florida
5. Powerball: $1.6 billion, Dec. 22, 2025 (45 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
6. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California, Florida, Tennessee
7. Mega Millions: $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - South Carolina
8. Mega Millions: $1.348 billion, Jan. 13, 2023 (25 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maine
9. Mega Millions: $1.337 billion, Jul. 29, 2022 (29 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Illinois
10. Powerball: $1.3259 billion, Apr. 6, 2024 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Oregon
11. Mega Millions: $1.269 billion, Dec. 27, 2024 (30 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
12. Mega Millions: $1.128 billion, Mar. 26, 2024 (30 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - New Jersey
13. Powerball: $1.0798 billion, Jul. 19, 2023 (38 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
14. Mega Millions: $1.05 billion, Jan. 22, 2021 (36 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
15. Mega Millions: $983 million, Nov. 14, 2025 (39 rollovers, starting at $50 million) - Georgia
16. Powerball: $842.4 million, Jan. 1, 2024 (34 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
17. Mega Millions: $800 million, Sep. 10, 2024 (27 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Texas
18. Powerball: $768.4 million, Mar. 27, 2019 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Wisconsin
19. Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Massachusetts
20. Powerball: $754.6 million, Feb. 6, 2023 (33 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Washington
21. Powerball: $731.1 million, Jan. 20, 2021 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maryland
22. Powerball: $699.8 million, Oct. 4, 2021 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
23. Powerball: $687.8 million, Oct. 27, 2018 (21 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Iowa, New York
24. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 (18 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
25. Mega Millions: $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013 (21 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - California, Georgia

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 9th-largest cash value in world 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. Powerball: $820.6 million cash, Sep. 6, 2025 ($1.7874 billion annuity) - Missouri, Texas
5. Mega Millions: $794.2 million cash, Aug. 8, 2023 ($1.602 billion annuity) - Florida
6. Mega Millions: $780.5 million cash, Jul. 29, 2022 ($1.337 billion annuity) - Illinois
7. Mega Millions: $776.6 million cash, Jan. 22, 2021 ($1.05 billion annuity) - Michigan
8. Powerball: $774.1 million cash, Oct. 11, 2023 ($1.7649 billion annuity) - California
9. Powerball: $735.3 million cash, Dec. 22, 2025 ($1.6 billion annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
10. Mega Millions: $723.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2023 ($1.348 billion annuity) - Maine
11. Powerball: $621 million cash, Apr. 6, 2024 ($1.3259 billion annuity) - Oregon
12. Mega Millions: $571.9 million cash, Dec. 27, 2024 ($1.269 billion annuity) - California
13. Powerball: $558.1 million cash, Jul. 19, 2023 ($1.0798 billion annuity) - California
14. Powerball: $546.8 million cash, Jan. 20, 2021 ($731.1 million annuity) - Maryland
15. Mega Millions: $536.6 million cash, Mar. 26, 2024 ($1.128 billion annuity) - New Jersey
16. Powerball: $496 million cash, Oct. 4, 2021 ($699.8 million annuity) - California
17. Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
18. Powerball: $477 million cash, Mar. 27, 2019 ($768.4 million annuity) - Wisconsin
19. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
20. Mega Millions: $453.6 million cash, Nov. 14, 2025 ($983 million annuity) - Georgia
21. Powerball: $450.2 million cash, Jan. 5, 2022 ($632.6 million annuity) - California, Wisconsin
22. Powerball: $425.2 million cash, Jan. 1, 2024 ($842.4 million annuity) - Michigan
23. Powerball: $407.2 million cash, Feb. 6, 2023 ($754.6 million annuity) - Washington
24. Mega Millions: $404.2 million cash, Sep. 10, 2024 ($800 million annuity) - Texas
25. Powerball: $396.2 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($687.8 million annuity) - Iowa, New York

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

• Powerball: 15
• Mega Millions: 10