Biggest Powerball jackpot in 8 months
By Todd Northrop
The multi-state Powerball lottery drawing happened last night once again without any jackpot winners, causing the new jackpot for Saturday's drawing to grow to an estimated $184 million, with a cash option of $90.1 million.
Wednesday night was the 9th consecutive drawing without a jackpot winner.
Even though there were no jackpot winners, 12 lucky tickets matched the first five numbers for a $200,000 second-place prize: 1 from Arizona, 2 from Florida, 1 from Idaho, 1 from Indiana, 1 from Michigan, 2 from Minnesota, 1 from New Jersey, 1 from New York, 1 from North Carolina, and 1 from Tennessee.
Three of the second-place tickets were sold with the Power Play option, which multiplied the prize to a sizeable $1 million each. Those tickets were sold in Arizona, Florida, and Idaho.
43 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $10,000. Of those tickets, four also were purchased with the Power Play option, multiplying the prize by 3 for a total cash prize of $30,000.
The Powerball winning numbers for Wednesday, February 23, were 29, 32, 36, 39, and 49, with Powerall number 29. The Power Play number was 3.
The last Powerball jackpot to reach the size of the upcoming Saturday drawing was on June 2, 2010, when one ticket from Ohio won a $261.6 million grand prize.
A total of 1,081,363 tickets across the USA won more than $11.2 million in prizes playing "America's Game" Wednesday. 161,275 of those winning tickets were purchased with the Power Play option, which multiplied the prize by 3.
When a Powerball ticket is purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1 per ticket, any non-jackpot prize is multiplied from 2-5 times, depending on a computerized random number generated that evening. Second-place Power Play-enabled tickets matching five numbers but not the Powerball are always multiplied by 5 times, for a $1 million prize.
Powerball is now played in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Wednesdays and Saturdays at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
The Powerball winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.
The last Powerball jackpot to reach the size of the upcoming Saturday drawing was on June 2, 2010, when one ticket from Ohio won a $261.6 million grand prize.
I'm hoping it happens again in Ohio and that the ticket will belong to me. Go Ohio!
ohio for the win
$184 Million will be just fine by me....Although by the time these gas prices finish I might only be able to fill up 1/2 the tank on my Monster Truck! LOL
let is grow woooooo. The game is just more and more interesting now. Lucky numbers where you at?..lol
Not this time stranger. I can smell winning the jackpot already.
It's nice to dream!!!
Yeah everything starts with a dream before it becomes reality.
I'm gonnnnnnnnnnnna win!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got a few tickets this time, instead of going overboard and spending $100 dollars and getting a $3 dollar return!
Buying $100 worth of tickets and only winning $3 could get old fast. If I bought $100 worth of tickets I would as lease make sure I played every bonus number twice guaranteeing I would win at least $6.
I agree! Let that jackpot grow and grow and grow!
I normally play 1 set of my own numbers and let the computer pick the rest Still i come up short, I have been playing big games since i was about 18 years old and im 30 now.There is no odds to me it is all about geographical areas 95% of the time! I can spend $100 million on tickets and still lose. It is cruel but fair.I am thankful to have the dream and the chance.
How long does it normally take before you recieve your money in the Powerball or Mega millions how much at first ?
What is the procedure ? Example only .
Thanks ,
Oklahoma Baby.........
love it...good luck players.
Pennsylvania needs a big win !
I bought my $1 quick-pick last nite !
About $58,565,000 after Federal Taxes ...................... good win for me !
Good luck to all on Lottery Post !
I'm hoping the same thing and that ticket will belong to me.
I hope you are smelling the same numbers I have ,because i smell a big win for me
Ya, people always saying they are going to win my money.
yeah, no one can come up with anything original. What's wrong with you people?
Just kidding
Only spending a little bit on this one. Thinking $2 MM, $4 PB and $4 for Texas Lotto. If it's meant to be it's gonna happen, if not, then it'll be like the past times I've spend big and won small (or nothing). But I'm really hoping I can get a PB win for Texas (pretty sure we haven't had one).
Yeah I don't go pay attention to the astronomical odds of winning. There were 17 jackpots won in 2010 for Powerball and at least 11+ jackpots won in each of the previous years. And pretty much the same goes for Mega Millions. So you could expect at least 20+jackpot wins between both games this year. Someone is going to win, that's guaranteed. So say to yourself, it could be me!
LOL....Washington State 1st winner right here!
As my dear old friend Frank once said:
"Fairy tales (winning the lottery) can come true, it can happen to you if you're young at heart (or just plain lucky!)..."
GOOD LUCK to us all!
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna watch "It Could Happen To You" (1994) now.
Um, didn't someone from Washington State win the huge $390 Million dollar MM jackpot? Unless your talking about for the Powerball in which case wish you the best of luck, but I think it's Delaware's turn.
yes. His name is Jim McCullar and he picked the numbers himself using a combination of birthdays.
Pennsylvania has had more lottery winners than New Mexico. It's time for New Mexico to have a big winner. Remember, New Mexico is not a country.
I have a plan when win the $184 million
it's the land of enchantment
Yeah, I think someone from Massachusetts will win this one tonight. No major jackpot winner since 2004 for Them.
What he said. It only takes 1 ticket to win.
Honestly, I've got one ticket and I'm hoping I just hit the powerball - or something. Any small prize would be nice tonight, especially with the powerplay (I'm stuck doing a Statistics Project tonight and NJ has been throwing out repeat after repeat, which has caused me to lose a few draws.)
It will roll to $230 million and then I will win it.
Yea someone from FL won it =)
Mmm Im waiting to check my tickets until the a.m....I have a good feeling about this =)
Dont tell me they were from Tampa lol
hi ,do you know that there is cheatting on the lottery, I was curious for months about it ,I made some research I have been studying for 3 years the way the numbers are coming out i found stupid combinations sometimes (exp: 11 33 44 46 47 12) isn't funny. and I found out the answer,yes there is a trick, to win power ball you need one ticket from 195 millon tickets, here is the trick.here is what they do according to article from a lottery employee, there is a hidden valve in the lottery balls covered by a tiny paper wrapped on the spot where they write numbers on the ball.they reduce air inside the ball to make it lighter and fly inside the machine easy with the air inside and the loosing combination they make them heavy to stay at buttom,the machine itself has air helps lighter balls fly all day long high as well as the power ball wich worth millions is always light and fly high, you still can get 5 numbers because the odds are ( 1 in 5,138,133 million tickets ) the only way to win is to wait for the jackpot go big and and all 195 million combinations sold out,they can't cheat there,thats why they close 2 hours a head before draw time,giving the giant computer enough time to generate all playing combination,the numbers we play,so it can generate the possible loosing combination including loosing power ball.("you never know")that the meaning of it, you are not going to know our secret.anyways. all the jackpot games,where big money are,there always a early closing time 30 minutes 1 hour 2 hours,thats the time the giant computer needs to work on also they have time to take air out from balls.why they don't make closing time 2 or 5 minutes before draw??????? don't give me excuses ohhhh!(because closing sales blaa bla bla bla),if jackpot is low no money for them,if jackpot high more money for them,I'm not saying don't play,butwatch out the game,now I play only one dollar no matter what? ,they have to get the old machine back with no air we don't need tecknology on lottery let it simple and visible to everyone,download the draw and watch the whole draw,they show number very quickly,my friend this is millions they should allow full 15 minutes and people from all states to check the balls and the machines,live so people can see and show people on Tv thats everything is alrght,then start the draw,also they should let lottery employees participate,if its a fair play,they deserve to win too,aren't they.if they are prohibited why I work there and I loose a chance to be millionaire am I stupid?? of course they know is not fair play
since 48 states participating in the game,why the jackpot it can be $48 millions instead $20 M.(48 states = $ 48 millions) thanks to evryone,remember this is my opinion,you guess what is going on.....
Not sure yet =) but if it is dayum!
if the winner is from Orlando, Florida and they have a relative or friend who works at Universal Studios, then the game was rigged
Florida Lotto will post the exact location tomorrow. The jackpot was estimated at 184, but fell short at 182.
The comments about the drawing being "rigged" are ridiculous. Orlando is one of the most visited areas in the country and has many Florida Lottery winners. Both Miami & Orlando are in the lottery news all the time. People on this board often complain about winners in Florida, but if you lived here, you'd realize how populated it is this time of year. Not only are there over 18.5 million legal residents, but in the winter the number of people in some areas triples. There are not only tourists who spend a lot of money (which is normal when you're on vacation) but we have a huge number of retirees and snowbirds who spend lots of money on tickets.
Anyway, that's not why I posted today. I just thought I'd share that the ticket was purchased in a Publix supermarket on Fortune Road. Kinda ironic, huh?
The winning ticket was bought in Kissimmee, FL. That's less than a 15 minute drive from where the powerball drawings take place at Universal Studios in Orlando. Hmmmmm....nothing suspicious about that at all.
All I have to say is the winner's background and family tree better be checked with a fine tooth comb to make sure he or she has no connection with anyone who works at Universal Studios.
manhouss,
At one time we had a LP Urban Legends thread. Your post would have won, no question. It's still good for a lottery tin hat award. On steroids.
for one thing, you said:
since 48 states participating in the game,why the jackpot it can be $48 millions instead $20 M.(48 states = $ 48 millions) thanks to evryone,remember this is my opinion,you guess what is going on.....
Well, Todd is always accurate and on the Powerball game info it lists 42 states and D.C.
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justxploring,
Hey there!
Was the winning ticket one of those freebie QPs? Or a "grouper?"
Nancy!
Where you been????????
Kinda missed you around here.
I think about you, hoping you are doing ok.
For such a small town they sure have a lot of winners. Scratchers , lotto now powerball.