By Todd Northrop
It has only been four weeks since Powerball tickets were flying off the ticket counters for a $448 million jackpot, but the muilti-state game is already back in the hot zone, with a $203 million jackpot teed up for Saturday night.
The new jackpot estimate of $203 million was set after there was no jackpot winner in the Wednesday night Powerball drawing, which had an estimated jackpot of $169 million.
Wednesday was the 8th consecutive Powerball drawing without a jackpot winner. The jackpot run started August 10 as a $40 million jackpot.
The estimated cash value for the new jackpot is $115.5 million. After-tax cash and annuity prize amounts are reported state-by-state on the Jackpot Analysis page at USA Mega, a web site devoted to the Powerball and Mega Millions multi-state lottery games.
Although there were no jackpot winners Wednesday, 11 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 2 from California, 1 from Florida, 1 from Kentucky, 1 from Louisiana, 1 from New York, 1 from North Carolina, 2 from Pennsylvania, 1 from Vermont, and 1 from Wisconsin.
None of the second-prize winners purchased the Power Play option for an extra $1. If they had, their second prize ticket would double in value to $2 million.
The California second-prize winners each will be awarded $555,690, because California does not award fixed prizes. 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.
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.
55 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $10,000. Of those tickets, 7 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $40,000, and 8 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $5,462 this drawing.
The Powerball winning numbers for Wed., Sept. 4, were 2, 9, 26, 45, and 47, with Powerball number 11.
Following the Wednesday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $34 million from its previous amount of $169 million. The cash value was raised by $19.4 million, from its previous amount of $96.1 million.
The next Powerball drawing will take place Saturday evening 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. Power Play is available for purchase in all states offering Powerball except California.
Powerball is now played in 43 states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 pm Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.
A 44th Powerball state will be added in early 2014, as the state of Wyoming has approved a new state lottery with the intention of joining Powerball and other multi-state lottery games. (See Wyoming officially becomes 44th state with a lottery, Lottery Post, Mar. 14, 2013.)
The Powerball winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.
Awesome!
Wooo Hoooo!!!!!!
Like they say in Missouri,SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!
Good luck everyone
I have my ticket, just one like I do for every draw !
Wow... PB has been smoking MM lately. Even after the JP was hit, PB still outpaced MM right outta the gate!
11 winners of the second prize and the PB was 11. Coinkidink??? Conspiracy? It is what it is.......lol!
Just noticed that...how ironic!
Let it roll
Jill34786, love the saying below all your posts. Chaps my ass everytime I send a check to the goverment.......
Love your saying because it's SOOOOOO true, I am in a field where people literally use their kids SSI as income to qualify for the service we provide. Some of these people have MORE kids just so they can get more money for each kid monthly on SSI and they too get SSI, foodstamps, and what other crap the government hands out to keep them content. Bizarro land to me.......
Super Size
I enjoy reading some of the posts on this webiste and I finally decided to join. I live on the East Coast and I just wanted to say "Hi" to all the members of the Lottery Post. Maybe it is just me, but am I the only one that finds it weird that the Powerball jackpot is $203 million but the take home is only $86 million. A blessing is a blessing but that doesn't seem fair. I really wish Mega Millions had this jackpot, at least, it would probably be almost half of the $203 million.
Californians got about half of what the secondary and lesser prize winners in the rest of the country got.
I think I'd be a little p*ssed off if I was one of 'em.
I still say Megamillions should split the megaplier in two and have the smallaplier and the bigaplier. It is taking forever for the Jackpots to roll now and it will probably take even longer once the odds get longer.
It also shows that adjusting the ticket price wasn't a bad idea...if you want to buy the same stuff with todays inflated currency you need inflated ticket prices too so the prizes get bigger.
I already got my ticket for Saturdays drawing. Its a QP with some strange combination. It has PP just in case
"...the smallaplier and the bigaplier."
That's what my Italian mechanic calls his tools.
If any of those winners in Cali can't take the shame of it, I'd be happy to assuage the anguish of their disappointment and take the $555,690 winnings on their behalf.
Actually, I've played at one of those winning stores:
POWER DISCOUNT STORE
325 W 5TH ST,
LOS ANGELES CA 90013
It's right across from the Metro station at Pershing Square and nearby Skid Row in downtown LA. I'll bet 50/50 odds it was a homeless person.
$203 million
Welcome to the LP islandgirl5
IF you mean powerball is $2.
Oh, I'd be happy to get the money too.
But I'd also be thinkin', "What if that was my big score for life? What if having those 5 numbers was the luckiest I'm ever gonna get? What if that was my only turn ever at being one of the very few to win big?"
And then my thoughts would turn to something like, "Why does CA have this stupid @zz system? What's wrong with the way everybody else does it?"
Don't get me wrong, I'd still play cuz it's the only game in town but I'd still be p*ssed getting a half million for the same deuce that got everybody else a million and maybe 2 million with an extry buck.
Welcome to the Lottery Post.
Cash Value is $115.5 Million. I think the 86 mill was Saturdays cash value
Welcome islandgirl5. It's amazing more people don't put up a fuss when they take 2/3rd's of it. But remember its "for the children" or "your greedy" if the take home is more than a million and you complain.
cheers
WIN>PLACE>SHOW $203 PowerBall
Unfortunately that is the voting base that our current Government is preying on. These low information voters actually believe the Government is their ticket to prosperity.
Welcome to LP islandgirl5! The take home pay of $86 million is what the winner would initially receive after 25% in Federal taxes are withheld. The "true" net amount after the balance of the Federal taxes are paid is under $70 million and that is only if the winning ticket was purchased in a state that doesn't charge a state income tax. In many states the true net payout after all taxes are paid is under $60 million...that is a far cry from the $203 million that is plastered on their signs and billboards.
It would be nice if the US would advertise a true jackpot which would be paid out in full and not based on a 30 year annuity. Many other countries pay out the entire advertised jackpot and don't even take out any taxes! Unfortunately our Government feels they are entitled to a large chunk of your windfall so that they can waste it on anything they feel is appropriate.
Yes, I wish the true jackpot was advertised too. I'm originally from Australia and lived in Canada as well, where the jackpot advertised, is the jackpot, no funny stuff. I've read that the vast majority here take the cash lump sum anyway so they're targetting a very small segment of lottery consumers which makes little sense. They should advertise the real, current value, and throw in an extra line about "oh, and if you decide to take the annuity your prize will be $!$!$!!!"
Anyone I talk to about the lottery jackpot always ask "how much is it really?". We all want to know how much we should dream about
Welcome to the conversations, Islandgirl5.
People that don't believe in hot numbers... #2 for 3 straight drawings, 26 & 45 for 2 straight! All you had to do was play these!
$203m is old news. Now the Jackpot is $245m. From what the MUSL told me via e-mail is that after October 21,the Mega will be difficult to win in anticipation that the Jackpots will swell. Still I play more Mega than Powerball because of the $1-$2 differential.
This is huge prize! I need to play smart, I guess I need to check other startegies that will work. I'm glad the lottery software is helping me with my game. I will have my jackpot prize soon!