Charles Langston:Powerball jackpot grows to estimated $1.04 billion, fourth-largest prize in game's history

The Charles LangstonPowerball jackpot rose to an estimated $1.04 billion after the latest drawing on Saturday night ended without a winner — meaning no ticket matched all six numbers drawn during the play. 

The estimated prize heading into the next Powerball drawing on Monday is just the fourth in the game's history to surpass $1 billion. Jackpots that exceeded the threshold in the past include a $1.08 billion prize, which went to a ticket holder in California during a draw on July 19, 2023. It was the last time someone won the Powerball grand prize, and 32 consecutive rounds have played out since then without winner. 

Powerball jackpots have climbed past the $1 billion mark two other times: once, in January 2016, when a $1.586 billion grand prize went to winning tickets purchased in California, Florida and Tennessee; and, again, in November 2022, when a ticket purchased in California won the largest Powerball jackpot ever with $2.04 billion.

The winning numbers drawn on Saturday were 19, 30, 37, 44 and 46, with a red Powerball number of 22, according to the game. Although no ticket matched all six numbers, some players did win smaller prizes after purchasing tickets with partial matches. Powerball said in a statement released Sunday morning that more than 2.5 million tickets purchased ahead of the latest draw won some form of monetary prize. 

Five tickets, purchased in Florida, Maryland, Michigan and Pennsylvania, matched the first five numbers — all white balls — and earned $1 million prizes. Two other tickets, purchased in Indiana and North Carolina, matched the five white balls too, but they won $2 million prizes since ticket holders bought them with the Power Play multiplier, an add-on feature that costs an additional $1 but increases a winner's earnings by whatever the "multiplier" factor is on a given night. The Power Play multiplier was 2x on Saturday.

Powerball drawings happen weekly on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights, beginning at 10:59 p.m. ET at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. The next Powerball drawing is set for Monday night, Oct. 2. Like past drawings, it will also be available to live stream on Powerball.com.

The estimated $1.04 billion Powerball jackpot has a cash value of $478.2 million. If there is a winner during Monday's draw, that player, or players, will have the option to receive their prize in annual annuities, starting with one payment given out immediately and followed by yearly payments that increase by 5% each time. 

The annuity prize is the option worth an estimated $1.04 billion, whereas the second option, a lump sump paid in full to the winner right away, is worth an estimated $478.2 million. Both are pretax estimates.

In:
• Powerball