If you’re feeling “lucky,” it may be a good time to purchase lottery tickets, as the current Powerball jackpot sits at an estimated $687 million, with a cash value of $327.3 million.
The last Powerball drawing on March 18 did not yield a jackpot winner, marking the 33rd consecutive draw with no top-tier prize awarded. However, the drawing produced some big winners nonetheless.
Five match-five players won $1 million each, including one winner each from Maryland, Minnesota, and Virginia and two winners from the Lone Star State. One “lucky” winner in Florida matched five white balls and purchased the power-play option, winning $2 million.
The two winning tickets from Texas were purchased at convenience stores in Donna and Houston.
The winning numbers in Monday’s drawing were 10, 17, 20, 39, and 44, with the red Powerball 16 being the power play number times three.
According to lottery officials, this is the second Powerball jackpot this year to rise above $600 million. The last Powerball jackpot was won on New Year’s Day from a ticket in Michigan worth $842.4 million.
The Powerball jackpot was hit five times in 2023 in February, March, April, July, and October. None of the big winners were from Texas. The largest Powerball jackpot ever awarded in the United States was in 2022 in California when Edwin Castro won $2.04 billion. Castro opted for a lump sum of $997.6 million, according to USA Today.
Jackpot winners may choose to receive their prize as an annuity, paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years, or a lump-sum payment.
The largest jackpot ever paid out by the Texas Lottery to a single player was won by Blue Yucca Trust in South Dakota in November 2023. The claimant of the $360 million Mega Millions game jackpot chose the cash value option, taking home $157,367,045 before taxes.
Powerball tickets are $2 to play, with the odds of winning the jackpot being one in 292.2 million. According to the Associated Press, before 2015, the odds of winning were 1 in 175.2 million.
The next Powerball drawing will be broadcast live from the Florida Lottery draw studio on Wednesday, March 20, at 9:59 p.m. CT.
