10th-largest lottery jackpot in US history
By Todd Northrop
This week lottery players across the United States will be pulling out all the stops to try and win Powerball, featuring one of the largest lottery jackpots in history, worth an estimated $620 million.
If you feel like it's been a long time since Powerball last had a jackpot winner you'd be right. The 39 consecutive drawings since the last winner on June 5 is the longest stretch without a jackpot winner in the game's history.
All those drawings have accumulated a massive pile of cash, ready to provide multi-generational wealth to the lucky lottery player who wins it all.
Wednesday night when there were no Powerball jackpot winners, the new jackpot for Saturday's drawing was estimated at $620 million, with a lump-sum cash option of $446 million. Nearly a half-billion dollars in cash!
It is the 10th-largest lottery jackpot in US history, and the 8th-largest cash option ever offered.
Players should note that jackpot amounts are conservative estimates provided by the lotteries, and are often somewhat higher by the time the drawing occurs. For example, the original estimate for Wednesday's drawing was $570 million, but by the time all the proceeds were counted just before draw-time, the jackpot had swelled to $580.8 million.
Of course, any big winner (or winners) of Saturday's Powerball jackpot will have to pay taxes on their prize, so the website USA Mega has a handy Powerball Jackpot Analysis page available to calculate the federal and state taxes that would be withheld upon payout. The feature calculates both the initial withholdings and the final tax burden due at the end of the year, and even can show taxes calculated for different IRS filing statuses.
Players looking for a nearby lottery retailer — or that out-of-the-way retailer with a smaller line — are encouraged to use Lottery Places, the only app for iOS, Android, and Windows that can locate the nearest lottery retailers in every jurisdiction that sells Powerball and Mega Millions. The helpful app can locate lottery stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, much of Canada, and the Caribbean.
Some states offer direct online sales too, allowing players to bypass the store completely. States that offer this ability include Michigan (Mega Millions and Powerball), Virginia (Mega Millions and Powerball), Texas (Mega Millions and Powerball), and Oregon (Mega Millions and Powerball). Note that some of these links will only work properly for residents of the states mentioned.
Players outside the USA can use a reputable butler service, which provides scanned copies of the purchased lottery tickets securely held on behalf of the customer. In the past, the lottery ticket service was used by people out side the USA to win big jackpots in Oregon and Florida.
The winning numbers for Wednesday, September 29, 2021 were 2, 7, 11, 17, and 32, with Powerball number 11. The Power Play number was 3.
The Wednesday Double Play drawing results were 3, 19, 29, 50, and 58, with Powerball number 3. Double Play is a new game option currently available in 13 states that lets you play your numbers in a second drawing for $1 per play, with a chance to win up to $10 million in cash. See How to Play Powerball at USA Mega for more information about Double Play.
Even though nobody won the jackpot Wednesday, 8 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from California, 1 from Florida, 1 from Indiana, 1 from Michigan, 1 from New York, 1 from Ohio, 1 from Oklahoma, and 1 from Wisconsin. (The California winner will claim a prize of $1,361,359, due to the state's pari-mutuel payout formula.)
The 3 tickets sold in Michigan, Ohio, and Oklahoma were purchased the Power Play option for an extra $1 per play, doubling their prizes to $2 million.
When a Powerball ticket is purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1 per ticket, a second-prize win is doubled and any other non-jackpot prize is multplied by the Power Play number drawn that evening. A complete list of prizes available for matching various numbers can be found on the Powerball Drawing Detail page at USA Mega, as well as on the Powerball Prize Payouts and the Powerball Double Play Prize Payouts pages at Lottery Post.
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. By law, California awards all prizes on a pari-mutuel basis, 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.
Also in the Wednesday drawing, 96 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000. Of those tickets, 19 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $150,000, and 13 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $8,025 this drawing.
Following the Wednesday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised $39.2 million from its previous amount of $580.8 million and the cash value was raised by $28.2 million from its previous amount of $417.8 million.
The next Powerball drawing will take place Saturday night at 10:59 pm Eastern Time.
Powerball is played in 45 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Mondays, 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
Saturday's Powerball jackpot currently stands as the 10th-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States, and the 6th-largest Powerball jackpot ever. Brisk sales will almost certainly push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.
- Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California, Florida, Tennessee
- Mega Millions: $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - South Carolina
- Mega Millions: $1.05 billion, Jan. 22, 2021 (36 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
- Powerball: $768.4 million, Mar. 27, 2019 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Wisconsin
- Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Massachusetts
- Powerball: $731.1 million, Jan. 20, 2021 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maryland
- Powerball: $687.8 million, Oct. 27, 2018 (21 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Iowa, New York
- Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 (18 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Mega Millions: $636 million, Dec. 17, 2013 (21 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - California, Georgia
- Powerball: $620 million, Oct. 2, 2021 (39 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 (13 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Florida
- Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 (15 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Powerball: $559.7 million, Jan. 6, 2018 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $543 million, Jul. 24, 2018 (22 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
- Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 (34 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Indiana
- Mega Millions: $533 million, Mar. 30, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $522 million, Jun. 7, 2019 (24 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
- Mega Millions: $516 million, May 21, 2021 (26 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Pennsylvania
- Powerball: $487 million, Jul. 30, 2016 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
- Powerball: $456.7 million, Mar. 17, 2018 (19 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Pennsylvania
- Mega Millions: $451 million, Jan. 5, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Florida
- Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 (12 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
- Powerball: $447.8 million, Jun. 10, 2017 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
- Powerball: $435.3 million, Feb. 22, 2017 (18 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Indiana
The number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 15
- Mega Millions: 10
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 8th-largest cash value in U.S. history.
- Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
- Mega Millions: $877.8 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.537 billion annuity) - South Carolina
- Mega Millions: $776.6 million cash, Jan. 22, 2021 ($1.05 billion annuity) - Michigan
- Powerball: $546.8 million cash, Jan. 20, 2021 ($731.1 million annuity) - Maryland
- Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
- Powerball: $476.9 million cash, Mar. 27, 2019 ($768.4 million annuity) - Wisconsin
- Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Powerball: $446 million cash, Oct. 2, 2021 ($620 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Powerball: $396.2 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($687.8 million annuity) - Iowa, New York
- Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
- Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
- Powerball: $352 million cash, Jan. 6, 2018 ($559.7 million annuity) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($636 million annuity) - California, Georgia
- Mega Millions: $349.3 million cash, May 21, 2021 ($516 million annuity) - Pennsylvania
- Mega Millions: $340 million cash, Jun. 7, 2019 ($522 million annuity) - California
- Powerball: $336.8 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $324 million cash, Mar. 30, 2018 ($533 million annuity) - New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $320.5 million cash, Jul. 24, 2018 ($543 million annuity) - California
- Mega Millions: $319.9 million cash, Jun. 9, 2020 ($414 million annuity) - Arizona
- Mega Millions: $314.4 million cash, Sep. 21, 2021 ($431 million annuity) - New York
- Powerball: $284 million cash, May 7, 2016 ($429.6 million annuity) - New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $281.9 million cash, Jan. 5, 2018 ($451 million annuity) - Florida
- Powerball: $279.1 million cash, Jun. 10, 2017 ($447.8 million annuity) - California
The number of jackpot cash values in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 13
- Mega Millions: 12
I think next week or after it gets hit. It's going to be during the baseball playoffs
Finally...a pretty descent bump from previous draws on this run
https://www.texaslottery.com/export/sites/lottery/Games/Powerball/Estimated_Jackpot.html
Good luck to each and everyone of Lottery Posts' participants on Saturdays(10/02) draw.
I think I'll wait till it gitz at least a Billyen, then, I'll🎈POP🎈 it..or SHUT'EM DOOOWN Agin..!!
* l walked into a store yesterday to purchase tickets and the guy in front of me was telling the clerk that he " only plays" the lottery when it climbs into the billion dollar range. I briefly thought of Gregory Jarvis, the Mich lottery player who drowned & never got to see a dime of that money.
For others..Win Something!
I decided to put this run in perspective......Okay,here we go..........
6/09/21...starting jackpot is $20M...then goes up to $31M---$40M--$52M--$63M--$75M--$88M--$101M--$113M--$127M--$137M--$150M--$161M--$174M--$186M--$199M--$211M--$226M--$241M--$258M--$274M--$290M--NEW MONDAY DRAW STARTS 8/23/21--$293M--$304M--$322M--$332M--$345M--$367M--$375M--$388M--$409M--$416M--$432M--$457M--$472M--$490M--$523M--$545M--$570M -----Currently $620M
Let me make sure this is right...from start to current..up 11 up 9 up 12 up 11 up 12 up 13 up 13 up 12 up 14 up 10 up 13 up 11 up 13 up 12 up 13(199 mark) up 12 up 15 up 15 up 17 up 16 up 16 to $290M ** Monday draw starts up 3 up 11 up 18 up 10 up 13 up 22 up 8...8 ?? Really? 8? That's it ? from $367 to $375 ? up 13 up 21 up 7($416M) 7? up $7 MILLION....That's IT ??? hmmmm up 16 up 25 up 15 up 15 again up 18 up 33($523M) NICE That's more like it ....up 22 .. up 23 and finally up 50 THERE WE GO, NOW WE ARE COOKIN WITH AVIATON GAS !!
YEAH YEAH YEAH, I KNOW.....It all depends upon sales etc etc.... All in all ? For this participant,during this run, since it started at the $150M mark for me ? I don't know about any of you but this Monday addition and the blame it on Covid has gotten just a bit old....Take the price back to a $1 a ticket, 2 draws a week and stop the promise of at least $20M increases. I'm finished sputtering, thanks for listening.
The end.................................................Good luck folks
" Time & Tide wait for no man.."
Probability Math reveals to Me the "Time".. with it, I'll produce the "Tide", to wash dat 1: 300, 000,000 Oddz, Myth, right doown da drain..!! , cause I am STAT$TALKER..!!
ANY Lottery that UNDERESTIMATES Me and doesn't RESPECT Me, will soon come to FEAR Me..!!, for I'm in Command of the Ultimate Lottery Weapon..!!
Players waiting to $500mil to play
I play at $20 mil be nice if they went back to $40mil start
They full of B.S.,SCEL full of B.S.,all the LOTTERIES full of B.S.
That's an interesting thing to post on a website about lotteries.
So, the question would be....why are you here on a website about lotteries? Do you even play? And if you do, why, if they are all full of B.S.?
Just curious.
* For l am in command of the ultimate lottery weapon!" ...What exactly does that mean, in layman's terms?
I thought for sure it would be hit last night because of all the low numbers. People playing birthdays, anniversaries, kids ages, etc.
Hey!! I see a recurring theme here 🤓
If the PowerBall jackpot hits the billion dollar mark, it could possibly go past the $1.5 billion that was on offer in 2016.
Check out the number of people who hit 4 of the first 5 numbers, especially compared to the last drawing: https://www.usamega.com/powerball/drawing/2021/9/29
Lots of people must have been upset last night about that 32!
Probability Math..!!..It'z no BIG SECRET..
The knowledge iz in ANY good book on Probability & Statistics..
I've been preachin THAT ever since I got here,.. only to be ridiculed of course..Then , I shut'em dooown 9/3/21 MM, claiming "Technical Difficulties".. It'z all on the thread "Predicting Winning Number!!, Fact or Fiction..!"..posted MM tickets & all.. along wit da Naysayin KNUcKlEhEaDz I constantly have ta deal wit on this site.. fa crying out loud, I've even been accused of being "tooo clever", which ticks people off here..
I even had "61" as a key# which indeed showed up, I machine gunned "19" as the Pwrball, for the Math said it was coming.. LOs 🏃got da Hell outta Dodge..!!
Ole Texez 2 Stepper said to me.." You got lucky"..!!.. I replied.."Nooo, I got RoBbEd"..!!
Powerball is played in 45 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.
Except in Idaho, tickets cost $3.
The lottery doesn't respect anyone, LOL. They know we're all dumb chumps wasting money on a long shot.
You are ridiculed for claiming the LO's are watching you and cheating you. And you claiming you "shut 'em down". Not for the "math".
You claim stupid things, you're gonna be called out for it.
..uh ooh, here comez moe tRoUbLe..!!
Technically they are still $2 per play in Idaho, but they force you to also buy the Power Play option for an additional $1 per play. However, your quote did point out an error in the article (which I have now fixed). I left out that Powerball is also played on Mondays. So thanks for the correction. 🙂
You lottery participating residents up that way sure got shafted on that deal.
Because I can...And it's my opinion...And u didn't even have to respond to it... I'm not the only one feel like this...I just said what I said...If you don't like it you could've kept scrolling...
Glad to be of assistance.
"I thought for sure it would be hit last night because of all the low numbers."
The 32 may have made a difference, but those numbers for past jackpots of $500+ million may well have produced a winner. The big difference is that those past drawings sold 3 to 5 times as many tickets, so a winner was 3 to 5 times as likely no mater what numbers were drawn. Maybe that's the silv er lining to low sales - we get a roll, and a chance at another really big jackpot, that otherwise might not have happened.
"it could possibly go past the $1.5 billion that was on offer in 2016"
That one went from about 950 to almost 1.6 billion in a single jump. The way this one is going I'm not sure that would happen. This time around we could reach the billion dollar mark and then have two more drawings with a good chance of a winner without reaching 1.5 billion.
"I think I'll wait till it gitz at least a Billyen"
Isn't it an awfully big gamble to take the chance that it will drop back to $20 million when your amazing skills at probability math® give you such a good chance at calculating the winning numbers?
Not really,.. See, I can ALWAYZ count on their Greed to prevail,..even more so than Probability Math..!! cause "Greedy iz whut Greedy duzz"..
Their supposedly extra play day for playerz is really a grab need for MORE money.. Like da Cookie Monster, can't re$i$t grabbing a$ much more a$ THI$ rare opportunity afford$ them.
Just as I predicted, they'd release a Jackpot on a Monday to boost sales on THAT draw day, THEY DID,..The perfect Pied-Piper Pitch..
And now that THEY have US just where THEY want Us..It'z like being at 1st & Goal, they're gonna try n dodge every combo, just ta git into the EndZone of a "Billion-Range Touchdown" cause once there?, the real Fan-Frenzy $how will $tart..and they will undoubtedly Milk it for all it'$ WORTH..
You can rest assured, MU$LO's are in their Play-Book (all pun intended) figuring out HOW TO DO JUST THAT..!! .. and with an unprecedented HOUR cutoff-time before the drawing$?, I'm afraid instant Play-back of THI$ GAME, will be only what THEY wish us to $ee & believe.. unless of course, Ole Stat$talker, SHUT'EM DOOWN, force a Fumble into the hands of Wide-Receiver J.D. SchmuckLucker..!!
-Stat$talker
But with the interest rate so low, the CASH value record could be broken on a significantly lower Annuity and Cash is all that matters.
My son has never bought a lottery ticket, so I will have him buy one for Saturday, so if you hear of a senior from U of M winning, that will be him. Beginners Luck.
Good luck to him!
My plans(subject to minor adjustments) have been developed on the collection aspect..... I am formulating my exit strategy from the employment scenario.....
The initial & current solution goes somewhat like this:
LMAO, that was funny.
Powerball also draws on Mondays. I think they started that in August
Thank you db101, good luck to you.
If you're going to watch a video, before claiming you should probably watch this:
Saturday's Powerball jackpot was just increased to $635 million, with cash option of $450 million.
INCREASE ?????? PERFECT
The frenzy has started.
You think powerball reach 650 million by tomorrow
only the shadow creatures know the answer 😏
I will be a participant in this drawing.
That surely is enough money for 500 small houses.
"but the cash option increases its rank to the 6th-largest in history."
Unfortunately that's not true. Most of the $15 million increase in the advertised annuity is the result of a slightly higher interest rate. The (correct) cash value of $450 million only went up by $4 million, which still leaves it $21 million shy of matching the 7th place cash value. We only need another $1.1 million for the annuity value to move up one place, which seems quite likely since MUSL is probably being conservative about it. There's also a possibility that the cash value could increase enough to move up the list, but that would kind of screw with the announcement that a roll will give us a starting jackpot of $670 million for Monday.
"with the interest rate so low, the CASH value record could be broken on a significantly lower Annuity and Cash is all that matters."
That would be interesting. Right now the top 3 cash values all correspond to the top 3 annuity values, with cash values (in order) of 62%, 57%, and 74% of the annuity values. Based on the current cash percentage of 70.87% a new cash value record of $983.6 million would result in a new 3rd place annuity value of $1.388 billion. The cash value could go as high as $1.089 billion (a full $100 million over the current record) and still come up a bit shy of the 2nd place annuity value. The cash value would have to reach a hair more than $1.124 billion to also set a new annuity record
Detailed, well thought out analysis as always, thanks
I play the lottery even though I know it's a sucker bet.
Why? For the fun of it. If I win some money, great, and if don't win any money,(which is most of the time) that's OK too. I never expect to win, so when I do win a few bucks that makes it that much better! G5
Same here.
....l look at it as supporting your favorite team. It may be years since they made the playoffs, but you hang in there regardless.
I buy at least one ticket for each drawing.
Gotta be in it to win it!
Yep. I noticed it at the store this morning. More people playing than usual, more lines purchased than usual. Hopefully it rolls over a little more and I'll get to watch someone buying a hundred bucks worth of QPs. That's always amusing.
I think it will get to 1 Billion also. I get all my Powerball tickets from Lottery Post quick picks generator. So far have won $8.00. 😁
Same here. I like it when I win a few bucks too. It's also fun to dream about hitting it big.
Today I was out grocery shopping and I picked up an additional ticket at a store I don't usually buy from. Maybe this one time it will get lucky.
I wouldn't mind if there was more than one winner, a piece of this would be plenty.
One hour until draw 🤩🤩🤩🤩🥳🥳🥳🥳
651.3 🤯🤯🤯🤯
So that means you full of B.S.😀
Powerball 670 million
That finishing total moved it up one notch on the biggest annuity list, to #9, but the cash value was still about $10 million shy of moving up from #8 to #7.
The official PB website still says pending, but USAMega and the state sites I've looked at all show a rollover. That amount is the $670 million that was forecast when last night's was still advertised at 635, so it now represents a whopping increase of $18.7 million for the annuity and about $13.5 million cash. That will move the annuity up another notch to 8th place, an the cash moves up 1 notch to #7.
Of course even with Monday sales running low compared to Wednesdays and Saturdays, that 670 figure has to be really low. At the very least it should end up as a bit more than the $35 million increase of the 635 > 670 forecast, so something better than 685. It needs to be more than 687.8 to reach 7th place, and I'd think that's a done deal by Monday night. That would also be enough to move the cash value up to the #5 spot.
If it was still 2 drawings per week I'd figure that the #5 annuity spot was a slam dunk, but it would have to get almost to 775 to become the new #4 cash value. Based on the biggest rollovers so far I think that would be a long shot even without the Monday drawing.
Tonight's Powerball jackpot was just increased to $685 million, with cash option of $485.5 million.
Gotta like that.... Cash value now in the top 5 !!