8th-largest US jackpot ever

By Todd Northrop

July has shaped up to be a sizzling hot month for lottery jackpot chasers, first with Mega Millions, and now with Powerball, each offering up a grand prizes of around a half-billion dollars.

Between now and Saturday evening, anyone can walk into a store and buy a lottery ticket for a couple of bucks that has the potential of winning $478 million — which may quite possibly be much higher by the time the Powerball drawing kicks off Saturday night.

That's because lotteries typically are very conservative in their initial jackpot estimates, like we saw with Wednesday's Powerball drawing. The initial estimate Sunday morning was $422 million, but by the time all the proceeds were counted before the drawing Wednesday night, the jackpot had swelled to $434.8 million.

Seasoned lottery players keep an eye on the lump-sum cash value of the jackpot, and the initial estimate is just as eye-popping: $330.6 million. And likely to grow even bigger before Saturday.

When compared against all lottery drawings conducted in United States lottery history, Saturday's Powerball jackpot ranks 8th all-time, and the cash value also ranks as number 8 among all cash values in history. (See the top 25 United States annuity and cash value jackpots below.)

Of course, the big winner (or winners) will have to pay taxes on their prize, so USA Mega has a handy Jackpot Analysis page available to calculate the federal and state taxes that would be withheld upon the award of your nice big jackpot.

This is the largest Powerball jackpot since — well, since the largest Powerball jackpot of all time was awarded in the January 13, 2016, drawing. Three winning tickets from California, Florida, and Tennessee split a world-record $1.6 billion grand prize.

Saturday's mammoth jackpot is the result of 23 consecutive draws without a winner.  The run-up started as a $40 million prize on May 11.

The winning numbers for Wednesday, July 27, 2016 were 10, 47, 50, 65, and 68, with Powerball number 24.  The Power Play number was 2.

Even though nobody won the jackpot Wednesday, 4 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Florida, 1 from Ohio, 1 from Pennsylvania, and 1 from Virginia.

Only one of the second-prize winners purchased the Power Play option — the ticket sold in Florida.  Because that ticket was purchased with the Power Play option their second-prize win is automatically doubled to $2 million.  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.

54 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000.  Of those tickets, 7 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $100,000, and 7 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $19,186 this drawing.

Following the Wednesday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $43.2 million from its previous amount of $434.8 million and the cash value was raised by $30.8 million from its previous amount of $299.8 million.

The next Powerball drawing will take place Saturday night at 10:59 pm Eastern Time.

When a Powerball ticket is purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1 per ticket, any non-jackpot prize is increased according to a fixed prize schedule, which can be found on the Powerball Drawing Detail page at USA Mega, as well as on the Powerball Prize Payouts page at Lottery Post.

Powerball is played in 44 states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Drawings are 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 8th-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States, and the 5th-largest Powerball jackpot ever.  Brisk sales will almost certainly push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.

1. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 - California, Florida, Tennessee
2. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
3. Mega Millions: $636 million, Dec. 17, 2013 - California, Georgia
4. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 - Florida
5. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 - Arizona, Missouri
6. Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
7. Mega Millions: $540 million, Jul. 8, 2016 - Indiana
8. Powerball: $478 million, Jul. 30, 2016 - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
9. Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
10. Powerball: $429.6 million, May 7, 2016 - New Jersey
11. Powerball: $425.3 million, Feb. 19, 2014 - California
12. Mega Millions: $414 million, Mar. 18, 2014 - Florida, Maryland
13. Powerball: $399.4 million, Sep. 18, 2013 - South Carolina
14. Mega Millions: $390 million, Mar. 6, 2007 - Georgia, New Jersey
15. Mega Millions: $380 million, Jan. 4, 2011 - Idaho, Washington
16. Powerball: $365 million, Feb. 18, 2006 - Nebraska
17. The Big Game: $363 million, May 9, 2000 - Illinois, Michigan
18. Powerball: $340 million, Oct. 19, 2005 - Oregon
19. Powerball: $338.3 million, Mar. 23, 2013 - New Jersey
20. Powerball: $337 million, Aug. 15, 2012 - Michigan
21. Powerball: $336.4 million, Feb. 11, 2012 - Rhode Island
22. Mega Millions: $336 million, Aug. 28, 2009 - California, New York
23. The Big Game: $331 million, Apr. 16, 2002 - Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey
24. Mega Millions: $330 million, Aug. 31, 2007 - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
25. Mega Millions: $321 million, Nov. 4, 2014 - New York

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

• Powerball: 14
• Mega Millions: 9
• The Big Game: 2

The Big Game is the original name of Mega Millions, from the game's first drawing on Sep. 6, 1996 through May 14, 2002.  The name was changed to Mega Millions starting with the May 17, 2002 drawing.

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 8th-largest cash value in U.S. history.

1. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
2. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
3. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
4. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
5. Mega Millions: $380.8 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($540 million annuity) - Indiana
6. Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
7. Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($636 million annuity) - California, Georgia
8. Powerball: $330.6 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($478 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
9. Powerball: $284 million cash, May 7, 2016 ($429.6 million annuity) - New Jersey
10. Powerball: $258.2 million cash, Aug. 7, 2013 ($448.4 million annuity) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
11. Mega Millions: $240 million cash, Jan. 4, 2011 ($380 million annuity) - Idaho, Washington
12. Mega Millions: $233.1 million cash, Mar. 6, 2007 ($390 million annuity) - Georgia, New Jersey
13. Mega Millions: $230.9 million cash, Mar. 18, 2014 ($414 million annuity) - Florida, Maryland
14. Powerball: $227.8 million cash, Feb. 19, 2014 ($425.3 million annuity) - California
15. Powerball: $224.7 million cash, Aug. 15, 2012 ($337 million annuity) - Michigan
16. Powerball: $223.3 million cash, Sep. 18, 2013 ($399.4 million annuity) - South Carolina
17. Mega Millions: $214 million cash, Aug. 28, 2009 ($336 million annuity) - California, New York
18. Powerball: $211 million cash, Mar. 23, 2013 ($338.3 million annuity) - New Jersey
19. Powerball: $210 million cash, Feb. 11, 2012 ($336.4 million annuity) - Rhode Island
20. Mega Millions: $202.9 million cash, Mar. 25, 2011 ($319 million annuity) - New York
21. Mega Millions: $197.5 million cash, Nov. 4, 2014 ($321 million annuity) - New York
22. Powerball: $197.4 million cash, Sep. 30, 2015 ($310.5 million annuity) - Michigan
23. Mega Millions: $194.4 million cash, Aug. 31, 2007 ($330 million annuity) - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
24. Powerball: $191.9 million cash, Mar. 2, 2016 ($291.4 million annuity) - Florida
25. Mega Millions: $185 million cash, Nov. 15, 2005 ($315 million annuity) - California

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

• Powerball: 14
• Mega Millions: 11