Powerball is on the rise and once again the jackpot has reached the $100 million range. There were no Powerball jackpot winners Saturday but 540,460 players across the nation won a total of more than $3.9 million in prizes in America's Game.
Because no one correctly matched all six numbers in Saturday's drawing the jackpot will grow to an estimated $100 million. That's currently the largest lottery jackpot in the world.
This is the fourth time this year and the fifth time in the last thirteen months that Powerball has reached the $100 million mark.
The cash option for the Wednesday, December 17 drawing will be an estimated $53.6 million.
The numbers drawn were: 17, 19, 25, 26, 44, and the Powerball was 19. The Power Play multiplier was 3.
Five players correctly matched the 5 white numbers and won $100,000. The tickets were sold in Idaho, Indiana, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania (2). None of the winning players purchased the Power Play option. If they had, they would have multiplied their prize by 3 for a total win of $300,000.
Forty-six players matched 4 white numbers plus the Powerball and won $5,000. Five of those players purchased the Power Play option, giving them a total win of $15,000.
More than 62,000 winning Powerball players multiplied their prize by 3 Saturday. They were able to do that by purchasing the Power Play option for one dollar. With Power Play you can multiply your winnings, except for the jackpot. At the beginning of each drawing a wheel is spun to select that night's multiplier.
This current jackpot run started with the Saturday, November 8 drawing. The drawing on Saturday night was the 11th consecutive draw without being hit. More than 4 million Powerball players across the nation have won a total of more than $37.6 million in cash prizes since this jackpot run started in early November.
Players purchased more than 19 million tickets between Thursday and Saturday night.
The lotteries sold $1.6 billion in Powerball tickets in 2002. That translates into more than $480 million for worthwhile state projects.
Christmas sure would be awesome with a powerball jackpot under the tree. And maybe a little a snow on the ground too.
Too bad everyone wants