The Powerball jackpot still has no winner. Could you be the lucky one to claim it all?
After 40 drawings with no winning ticket, the Powerball prize pool has skyrocketed in value. The Multi-State Lottery Association now estimates that the Powerball jackpot stands at a record-setting US$1.9 billion.
This is the largest national lottery jackpot in world history, according to Guinness World Records, and it might keep climbing if no one matches all five white balls and the red Powerball during Monday night’s draw at 11 p.m. ET.
The California Lottery Association tweeted about the record when it was officially broken ahead of the previous draw on Saturday, when the jackpot was valued at around $1.6 billion. The winning numbers for the drawing were: white balls 28, 45, 53, 56, 69 and red Powerball 20.
The previous record-holder for the world’s largest national lottery jackpot was also held by Powerball. In 2016, the lottery paid out a grand prize of $1.586 billion.
Powerball winners have the option of claiming the full prize through an annuity, paid annually over 29 years, but most winners opt for the cash option paid out immediately. For the $1.9 billion prize, the cash option stands at $929.1 million, Powerball said.
Powerball players do not need to be U.S. citizens or residents to enter the lottery, meaning Canadians are welcome to purchase tickets. The easiest ways to get Powerball tickets are by buying them in the States yourself, getting an American friend or family member to purchase a ticket on your behalf, or by using a third-party service to buy a ticket on your behalf — though this option may come with some risks, lotteries warn.
Part of the reason why there hasn’t been a winner yet for this massive fortune is because of the long odds of guessing all six numbers correctly. The odds of winning the Powerball stand at around 1 in 292.2 million.
Of the top 10 largest jackpots in U.S. history, only one came before the Powerball rule change in 2015 — the last one on the list. The 10th-largest U.S. jackpot came in 2012 when three ticket holders from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland split a Mega Millions grand prize of $656 million.
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