On Wednesday, the 33rd consecutive drawing of the multi-state Powerball lottery game concluded without a jackpot winner, resulting in the game’s jackpot soaring to an astonishing $1.4 billion.
The fortunate individual who eventually claims this grand prize can choose to receive a lump-sum payment of $643.7 million in cash, an amount exceeding half a billion dollars, which will be awarded in the upcoming drawing scheduled for October 7th. This upcoming Powerball jackpot now ranks as the third largest in history and the fifth largest in U.S. lottery history.
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Powerball
Remarkably, in the year 2023 alone, lottery jackpots have already crossed the billion-dollar threshold on four separate occasions, with two instances occurring in Mega Millions and two in Powerball.
“This represents an unprecedented occurrence in the history of the Powerball game, with consecutive jackpot cycles now producing billion-dollar grand prizes,” noted Lottery Executive Director Eric Hagler in a press release. “The Powerball jackpot was last claimed on July 19th for $1.08 billion. Since then, there have been 32 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner.”
According to a recent survey, the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots have been consistently setting new records. This surge in jackpot sizes is attributed to the convenience of online ticket purchases and the introduction of an extra drawing day.
For the drawing held on October 4th, with an astounding grand prize of $1.2 billion at stake, the winning numbers were 9, 35, 54, 63, and 64. The crucial Powerball number that secured the win was 1, with a Power Play number of 2. These numbers had the potential to transform someone into a millionaire.
In the Double Play drawing that took place on Wednesday, the winning numbers were 12, 30, 39, 64, 67, and the Powerball number was 22. Double Play is available in 14 states and offers an opportunity to win additional cash, with a potential jackpot of up to $10 million for a $1 per play.
Regrettably, no one claimed the major jackpot prize. However, there were ten fortunate players who each secured $1 million by matching the first five numbers in Wednesday’s drawing. Notably, two of these winners hailed from California, and they will each receive a substantial prize of $1,220,123.
