A world record was set in the lottery.
The Powerball prize that started three months ago has become the world’s largest lotto prize ever. Lottery officials raised the Friday morning Powerball jackpot estimate to a record $1.6 billion for Saturday, November 5.
The grand prize is $782.4 million.
Saturday’s estimated jackpot beat the world record previously set by Powerball in 2016, when tickets in California, Florida and Tennessee won the $1.586 billion jackpot.
“This Powerball game delivers exactly what our players want,” said Drew Svetko, President of the Powerball Product Group and CEO of the Pennsylvania Lottery. “We’re seeing history in the making with this grand prize of $1.6 billion. What’s also exciting is that this race has already racked up millions of winners, including nearly 100 players who have won prizes of $1 million or more.”
The next Powerball draw will take place at the Florida Lottery Draw studio in Tallahassee at 10:59 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 5. Ticket sale cut-off times vary by jurisdiction, but usually occur one to two hours before the scheduled drawing date.
“There is a lot of anticipation and excitement leading up to Saturday’s drawing,” Svetko said.
Saturday’s draw will be Powerball’s 40th draw since it last won the jackpot on August 3 in Pennsylvania. If no one wins the jackpot in Saturday’s drawing, the game record will be tied to the number of consecutive drawings without the jackpot winner. The longest grand prix in Powerball history ended on October 4, 2021, when a ticket in California won the $699.8 million jackpot in the 41st draw.
Arsenal tickets are $2 per game. Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds from the sale of a Powerball ticket remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold.
Grand Prize winners may choose to receive their prize as an annual bonus, payable in 30 graduated installments over 29 years, or all at once. Both advertised award options are before federal and state taxes.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
