With the drawing still delayed, we may not know results until later Tuesday.
WASHINGTON — Monday’s Powerball drawing for the largest-ever jackpot was delayed because a participating lottery had issues processing sales, the lottery game said. We may not know the results until later Tuesday.
“Powerball requires all 48 participating lotteries to submit their sales and play data prior to the winning numbers being selected. Once Powerball receives the outstanding submission, the drawing can proceed,” the Multi-State Lottery Association said in a statement.
Winning numbers still weren’t announced as of early Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, the association said in a new statement that Powerball was “in communication with the lottery throughout the night as it works to resolve the issue.” It declined to name the lottery that was having problems.
“Like the rest of America, Powerball is eager to hold its drawing for the world record jackpot, however, protecting the integrity of the draw is of upmost importance, even if that means a further delay,” the statement said.
This is the second delayed drawing in the last three weeks. When the drawing was delayed last month, the delay lasted less than an hour. The same reason was given for the delay in October.
“Powerball has strict security requirements that must be met by all 48 lotteries before a drawing can occur,” the website said.
The current grand prize soared to new heights — an estimated $1.9 billion — after another winless drawing Saturday.
There have only been four previous jackpots exceeding $1 billion, although they all trail significantly behind the current prize, which started at $20 million on Aug. 6 and has grown more than fivefold over the last three months.
Despite the lack of a grand prize winner on Saturday, several became millionaires after Saturday’s drawing. There were 16 winners of $1 million across Florida, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, South Dakota, New York, Michigan, Missouri and Pennsylvania. Only one person in Kentucky won $2 million, thanks to the Power Play option.
Even as the grand prize nears $2 billion, the odds of winning remain slim — 1 in 292.2 million.
If there are no winners on Monday, the jackpot will set another record by having 41 draws without a grand prize winner.
Lottery fever has taken over gas stations and grocery stores across America. Even with the ongoing sales boost, Saturday’s drawing only covered 62% of all possible number combinations. For context that percentage is still less than the 88.6% coverage reached for the previous record jackpot in 2016.
Winners will receive the $1.9 billion over 29 years if they opt for an annuity. Almost all of the winners opt for cash, which is $929.1 million for Monday’s drawing.
In the past few years, lottery officials have changed rules and prices to increase top prizes, resulting in more and more huge lottery jackpots. As part of a new strategy to boost sales and prizes, Powerball added a third drawing day to its weekly schedule in August.
The previous biggest prize was a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot won by three ticketholders in 2016. Once a winning ticket matches the drawing, the Powerball jackpot starts over again at $20 million and continues to grow each drawing until it is won.
Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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