The Powerball jackpot is up to $1.5 billion after nobody won it Wednesday, making it the fifth-largest jackpot in the lottery’s history.
The winning numbers for the $1.25 billion prize were white balls 25, 33, 53, 62 and 66 and red ball 17.
Powerball said the current load is surpassed only by a $2.04 billion prize won in 2022 in California, the previous $1.787 billion jackpot split between winners in Missouri and Texas on Sept. 6, a $1.765 billion jackpot won in 2023 in California and a $1.586 billion prize split among winners in California, Florida and Tennessee in 2016.
Two Mega Millions totals were larger: a $1.602 billion jackpot won in Florida in 2023, the highest prize in that lottery’s history, and a $1.537 billion jackpot won in South Carolina in 2018.
The $1.5 billion will be in play for the next drawing on Saturday, the record 45th straight drawing in the current jackpot cycle, Powerball said. It’s also only the second time that Powerball has had back-to-back billion-dollar jackpots.
If someone wins it all Saturday, he or she will choose between a lump sum of $686.5 million or an annuitized option involving a smaller first payment and 29 succeeding annual payments where each is 5% larger than the last, adding up to $1.5 billion in total.
Powerball tickets cost $2 a piece and are sold in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and every U.S. state except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.
