Powerball jackpot jumps $14m ahead of Saturday’s drawing - here’s how to get a ticket

The jackpot is now the fourth-largest grand prize in the lottery’s history

Powerball lottery ticket (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The Powerball jackpot has now soared to an estimated $1.23bn, after no one won Wednesday’s draw.

The winning numbers for the $1.09bn Powerball jackpot were drawn on Wednesday, with the sum marking the fourth-largest grand prize in the lottery’s history.

The winning numbers were 11, 62, 65, 38, 41 and Powerball 15.

That prize had already jumped from $1bn to $1.09bn after no tickets matched all six numbers on Monday night’s draw.

In that draw, six ticket holders scored $1m prizes in Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina and Virginia while over two million players won lower-tier prizes.

Now, the $1.23bn jackpot is up for grabs on Saturday’s draw,

The last Powerball jackpot, worth $842.4m, was won in Michigan in January. Powerball said that 39 consecutive draws have been made since then.

The largest ever Powerball jackpot was $2.04bn, won by a player in California in 2022. It remains the largest ever US lottery prize.

When a player wins the jackpot, they can choose to receive the money in annuitized payments or take a lump sum, which would have been an estimated $527.3m for Wednesday’s draw.

The Powerball jackpot starts at $20m and increases every time a draw is made with no winner coming forward. To win the Powerball, you must match all five white balls plus the red Powerball.

To play, participants choose five numbers between 1 and 69, as well as another number between 1 and 26 for the Powerball.

According to the Powerball, the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The odds are slightly better for winning a $1m prize by matching all the white balls but not the powerball, at 1 in 11.6 million.

To participate in the Powerball, you can purchase tickets for $2 per play. They are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Drawings take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10.59pm ET in Florida.