The Powerball jackpot went unwon yet again on Wednesday, meaning it will continue to rise, now to an estimated $700 million.
Though the jackpot was not won, there were still some big winners on Wednesday. Players in Florida and North Carolina each won $1 million. These players matched five of the numbers but failed to match all six.
An individual in New York won $2 million by using the Power Play Multiplier. By paying an extra $1, players can multiply their winnings by a multiplier that is randomly drawn before the regular drawing of the numbers.
The jackpot has not been won for over two months now, since November 19, when a player won the record-breaking $2.04 billion jackpot.
The next drawing for the $700 million will happen on Saturday. Though this jackpot may seem meager compared to the $2.04 billion one, it is still among the largest jackpots in U.S. history.
The winning numbers this past Wednesday were 31-43-58-59-66 and Powerball 9.
The odds of winning the jackpot are incredibly slim: one in 292.2 million.
It seems that lottery jackpots have only been growing larger over the past few years. This is likely due to changes in ticket prices and rules.
Powerball made one of these changes in 2021 when it added a Monday drawing meant to increase the growth rate of the jackpots. Originally, there were only two drawings a week, on Wednesday and Saturday.
The top winning Powerball tickets in U.S. history, via WFAA, are as follows:
- $2.04 billion, Powerball, November 8, 2022 (one ticket, from California).
- $1.586 billion, Powerball, January 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, and Tennessee).
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, October 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina).
- $1.35 billion Mega Millions, January 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine).
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois).
- $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, January 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan).
- $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin).
- $758.7 million, Powerball, August 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts).
- $731.1 million, Powerball, January 20, 2021 (one ticket, from Maryland).
- $699.8 million, Powerball, October 4, 2021 (one ticket, from California).
