3rd-largest US jackpot ever; 3rd-largest cash value ever

By Todd Northrop

There are going to be a lot of lottery tickets sold this week.

For only the 4th time in the history of United States lotteries, a lottery jackpot has grown to more than $600 million.

The new high-water mark of $650 million for the current Powerball jackpot was achieved after no winning tickets were sold for Saturday night's $541.9 million grand prize.

The lump-sum cash payout value of Wednesday's Powerball jackpot is $411.7 million.  After-tax cash and annuity prize amounts are reported state-by-state on the Jackpot Analysis page at USA Mega, a web site devoted to the Powerball and Mega Millions multi-state lottery games.

There is only one Powerball jackpot that has ever grown larger than this one: The record $1.6 billion grand prize drawing on January 13, 2016, when three tickets from California, Florida, and Tennessee split the winnings.  The Florida and Tennessee winners claimed their prizes quickly, but the California winner waited about six months to claim their share.

The Mega Millions jackpot of $656 million, currently standing in second place on the all-time list, was won in March of 2012, split by three tickets sold in Illinois, Kansas, and Maryland.

Players should note that jackpot amounts are conservative estimates provided by the lotteries, and are often somewhat higher by the time the drawing occurs.  And in this case we're expecting the jackpot to grow a lot more by draw time.

In the drawing before the record $1.6 billion jackpot was hit, the initial estimate of $675 million was raised not once, not twice, but three times before finally reaching $949.8 Million by draw time.

Wednesday's mammoth jackpot is the result of 20 consecutive draws without a winner.  The run-up started as a $40 million prize on June 14.

The winning numbers for Saturday, August 19, 2017 were 17, 19, 39, 43, and 68, with Powerball number 13.  The Power Play number was 4.

Even though nobody won the jackpot Saturday, 10 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from California, 2 from Florida, 2 from Missouri, 1 from New Jersey, 1 from North Carolina, 1 from Pennsylvania, 1 from South Carolina, and 1 from Tennessee.

The California second-prize winner will receive $1,095,207, due to that state's law that requires all lottery payouts to be calculated with a pari-mutuel formula, meaning the prizes will change each drawing based on the number of tickets sold and the number of tickets that won at each prize level.  If more than one ticket in California had won second prize, the winners would have split that amount equally.

Only two of the second-prize winners purchased the Power Play option — the tickets sold in South Carolina and Tennessee. Because those tickets were purchased with the Power Play option their second-prize wins are automatically doubled to $2 million.  Power Play is not available in California, because the fixed nature of the prize increase offered in Power Play is not compatible with California's pari-mutuel payouts.

116 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000.  Of those tickets, 17 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $200,000, and 18 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $15,576 this drawing.

Following the Saturday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $108.1 million from its previous amount of $541.9 million. The cash value was raised by $68.5 million from its previous amount of $343.2 million.

The next Powerball drawing will take place Wednesday night at 10:59 pm Eastern Time.

When a Powerball ticket is purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1 per ticket, any non-jackpot prize is increased according to a fixed prize schedule, which can be found on the Powerball Drawing Detail page at USA Mega, as well as on the Powerball Prize Payouts page at Lottery Post.

Powerball is now played in 44 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.

Powerball lottery results are published within minutes of the drawing at USA Mega (www.usamega.com).  The USA Mega Web site provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States's two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.

Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time

Wednesday's Powerball jackpot currently stands as the 3rd-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States, and the 2nd-largest Powerball jackpot ever.  Brisk sales will likely push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.

If nobody wins Wednesday, it's anyone's guess how high it will go.

1. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 - California, Florida, Tennessee
2. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
3. Powerball: $650 million, Aug. 23, 2017 - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
4. Mega Millions: $636 million, Dec. 17, 2013 - California, Georgia
5. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 - Florida
6. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 - Arizona, Missouri
7. Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
8. Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 - Indiana
9. Powerball: $487 million, Jul. 30, 2016 - New Hampshire
10. Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
11. Powerball: $447.8 million, Jun. 10, 2017 - California
12. Powerball: $435.3 million, Feb. 22, 2017 - Indiana
13. Powerball: $429.6 million, May 7, 2016 - New Jersey
14. Powerball: $425.3 million, Feb. 19, 2014 - California
15. Powerball: $420.9 million, Nov. 26, 2016 - Tennessee
16. Mega Millions: $414 million, Mar. 18, 2014 - Florida, Maryland
17. Powerball: $399.4 million, Sep. 18, 2013 - South Carolina
18. Mega Millions: $393 million, Aug. 11, 2017 - Illinois
19. Mega Millions: $390 million, Mar. 6, 2007 - Georgia, New Jersey
20. Mega Millions: $380 million, Jan. 4, 2011 - Idaho, Washington
21. Powerball: $365 million, Feb. 18, 2006 - Nebraska
22. The Big Game: $363 million, May 9, 2000 - Illinois, Michigan
23. Powerball: $340 million, Oct. 19, 2005 - Oregon
24. Powerball: $338.3 million, Mar. 23, 2013 - New Jersey
25. Powerball: $337 million, Aug. 15, 2012 - Michigan

For those keeping score, the number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

• Powerball: 17
• Mega Millions: 7
• The Big Game: 1

The Big Game is the original name of Mega Millions, from the game's first drawing on Sep. 6, 1996 through May 14, 2002.  The name was changed to Mega Millions starting with the May 17, 2002 drawing.

Top 25 cash value jackpots

Since many lottery winners collect their winnings in cash, the lump-sum payout is an important measure of what a winning ticket could be worth.

Looking at the cash value, the upcoming Powerball jackpot ranks as the 3rd-largest cash value in U.S. history.

1. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
2. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
3. Powerball: $411.7 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($650 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
4. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
5. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
6. Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
7. Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
8. Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($636 million annuity) - California, Georgia
9. Powerball: $336.8 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire
10. Powerball: $284 million cash, May 7, 2016 ($429.6 million annuity) - New Jersey
11. Powerball: $279.1 million cash, Jun. 10, 2017 ($447.8 million annuity) - California
12. Powerball: $263.5 million cash, Feb. 22, 2017 ($435.3 million annuity) - Indiana
13. Powerball: $258.2 million cash, Aug. 7, 2013 ($448.4 million annuity) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
14. Powerball: $254.7 million cash, Nov. 26, 2016 ($420.9 million annuity) - Tennessee
15. Mega Millions: $246.5 million cash, Aug. 11, 2017 ($393 million annuity) - Illinois
16. Mega Millions: $240 million cash, Jan. 4, 2011 ($380 million annuity) - Idaho, Washington
17. Mega Millions: $233.1 million cash, Mar. 6, 2007 ($390 million annuity) - Georgia, New Jersey
18. Mega Millions: $230.9 million cash, Mar. 18, 2014 ($414 million annuity) - Florida, Maryland
19. Powerball: $227.8 million cash, Feb. 19, 2014 ($425.3 million annuity) - California
20. Powerball: $224.7 million cash, Aug. 15, 2012 ($337 million annuity) - Michigan
21. Powerball: $223.3 million cash, Sep. 18, 2013 ($399.4 million annuity) - South Carolina
22. Mega Millions: $214 million cash, Aug. 28, 2009 ($336 million annuity) - California, New York
23. Powerball: $211 million cash, Mar. 23, 2013 ($338.3 million annuity) - New Jersey
24. Powerball: $210 million cash, Feb. 11, 2012 ($336.4 million annuity) - Rhode Island
25. Mega Millions: $202.9 million cash, Mar. 25, 2011 ($319 million annuity) - New York

The number of jackpot cash values in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

• Powerball: 16
• Mega Millions: 9