Will someone finally end the Powerball winless streak and take home almost half a billion dollars?
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Did someone end Powerball’s winless streak?
We won’t know right away, but Saturday’s Powerball numbers were 5-14-19-46-64 and Powerball 22.
The jackpot, a sizable $473 million, is an enormous amount of money, although it still falls more than $200 million short of cracking the top 10 list of largest lottery jackpots.
The current jackpot also has a tough act to follow after a $1.35 billion Mega Millions ticket was sold in Maine last week. The winner, who hasn’t been identified, can remain anonymous. More than a dozen other players matched five numbers and won the game’s second-tier prize of $1 million.
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)