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2022 was a big year for lottery jackpots. With a $1.35B prize won and another jackpot growing, 2023 may be no different.
WASHINGTON — Lottery hopefuls who missed out on the latest big prize from Mega Millions — a $1.35 billion jackpot won Friday in Maine — may be turning to Powerball for another growing prize. The estimated jackpot for Saturday night’s drawing was $404 million.
Saturday’s winning numbers were 24-26-39-47-57 and the Powerball was 23. The next drawing is Monday.
While $404 million is no small amount of money, it’s only for the game’s annuity option, which is paid out over 29 years. Most players want their money quickly and take the smaller cash sum — in this case, $211.7 million.
The current jackpot also has a tough act to follow. A Mega Millions player in Maine won a prize of $1.35 billion Friday night, becoming the first person in the state to win a Mega Millions jackpot. More than a dozen other players won the game’s second-tier prize of $1 million.
The last Powerball jackpot win was in mid-November. In early November, a single ticket bought in California won a record-breaking $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot.
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Odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are slim — one in 292.2 million.
Over the past few years, huge lottery jackpots have become more common as lottery officials have changed the rules and ticket prices to boost top prizes.
In 2021, the lottery game saw its biggest change as Powerball officials added a Monday drawing to its weekly lineup of Wednesday and Saturday evening drawings. At the time of the announcement, Powerball proclaimed the addition of the Monday drawing would lead to “larger, faster-growing jackpots.”
Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
What are the largest US lottery jackpots ever won?
- $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 8, 2022 (one ticket, from California)
- $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)
- $1.35 billion Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
- $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)
- $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin)
- $758.7 million, Powerball, Aug. 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts)
- $731.1 million, Powerball, Jan. 20, 2021 (one ticket, from Maryland)
- $699.8 million, Powerball, Oct. 4, 2021 (one ticket, from California)
