The stakes for winning Powerball keep growing higher and higher as both drawings this week yielded no jackpot winner.

Now sitting at an estimated $596 million, the jackpot has been building since July when a Californian bagged a whopping $1.08 billion — the third largest in Powerball history, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.

Despite 24 consecutive drawings without a grand prize victor, Match 5 winners have been claiming smaller prizes across the country.

On September 13, the drawing yielded two Match 5 winners with the white balls 22, 30, 37, 44, and 45. One winner was in Missouri and the other was in South Carolina.

Although neither matched the red ball of 18, the $1 million prize is nothing to sneeze at.

The purchaser in South Carolina opted for the prize multiplier feature and thus will receive $2 million.

According to Powerball, there have been a total of 25 tickets that have won $1 million prizes through Match 5 and eight more that have won $2 million prizes thanks to Match 5 and Power Play.

Yet there are also a number of smaller prizes available since matching any of the drawn numbers typically yields some kind of payout. Here’s how it works:

  • Matching the Powerball earns you $4.
  • Matching a single white ball along with the Powerball gets you $4.
  • Matching two white balls and the Powerball earns you $7.
  • Matching three white balls earns you $7.
  • Matching three white balls and the Powerball earns you $100.
  • Matching four white balls earns you $100.
  • Matching four white balls and the Powerball earns you $50,000.

The next Powerball drawing on Saturday promises to be an exciting one, with a cash value of approximately $288.2 million.

Although the chances of winning the colossal Powerball jackpot are a daunting one in 292.2 million, Texans seem to be faring pretty well in lottery games of late.

As reported last week in The Dallas Express, a McKinney resident claimed a Lotto Texas jackpot of an estimated $17 million from a drawing on August 16.

The winning ticket had been purchased from a 7-Eleven convenience store in Dallas. Having already selected the cash value option upon purchasing the ticket, the winner received a total of $9,784,117.86, not including the state-mandated 24% tax withholding rate.

Moreover, lottery jackpots have been making headlines throughout the year. Just last month, a ticket from Florida won a staggering $1.58 billion in the Mega Millions, breaking all previous records.

All eyes are on Saturday night’s drawing to see whether the jackpot will continue to roll or some lucky winner (or winners!) will strike it big.