Powerball Jackpot Increased to $700 Million; Second Largest Ever
August 22, 2017CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Multi-State Lottery Association has increased the estimated jackpot amount for Wednesday’s Powerball drawing to $700 million with a cash value of $443.3 million, making it the second largest lottery jackpot in American history.
“We are definitely excited about the large jackpot and would love to see one of our West Virginia players win the big one,” West Virginia Lottery Director Alan Larrick said. “Our State has a great history with the Powerball game with eight jackpot winners having bought their lucky tickets here and we would love to see number nine happen on Wednesday night.”
Wednesday’s drawing will be the 21st drawing since the Powerball jackpot was last won on June 10 in California ($447.8 million). This is the highest advertised Powerball jackpot amount since the jackpot run that produced the world record jackpot of $1.586 billion in January 2016. That Grand Prize was split by three tickets in California, Florida and Tennessee.
Any player who matches all five numbers and the Powerball in Wednesday’s drawing will have to decide between the annuity option of an estimated $700 million (30 payments over 29 years) or a lump-sum payment of an estimated $443.3 million. If there is more than one Grand Prize-winning ticket, the jackpot will be split by the winning tickets.
“As always, we encourage players to play responsibly,” Larrick said. “Pools are very popular with these big jackpots and we do see more and more people playing in a group with friends and co-workers.”
There are 8 other ways to win besides the jackpot –10 tickets won $1 million or more in Saturday’s drawing for instance. Overall odds of winning any prize are one in 24.9. Odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292,201,338.
West Virginia, despite a small population, has a reputation as being a “lucky” state when it comes to the Powerball game. West Virginia has had eight Powerball® jackpot winners and has also produced an additional 26 winners of prizes of $1 million or more from the game. In fact, 22 of those $1 million or more wins in West Virginia have happened in just the last four years.
ABOUT POWERBALL
It’s America’s Game! Powerball® celebrated its 25th anniversary in April 2017. Currently here are 47 lotteries selling the Powerball game, including 44 states, Washington D.C. he U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Powerball costs $2 per play. For an additional $1 per play, the Power Play® feature can multiply non-jackpot prize amounts by 2, 3, 4, 5, or 10 times. NOTE: The 10X multiplier s only in play when the advertised annuity jackpot is $150 million or less. The Match 5 prize with Power Play is always $2 million.
The Powerball jackpot starts at $40 million and grows by a minimum of $10 million every draw until the jackpot is won. Players select five numbers from 1 to 69; and one Powerball number from 1 to 26. Players can either select their own numbers on a play slip or request an easy pick or quick pick, which allows a lottery terminal to choose the numbers for them.
Powerball drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET and are broadcast live from Tallahassee, Fla. Players have until 9:59 p.m. ET on a drawing date to purchase their tickets.
Record Lottery Jackpots in North America/Jackpot/Draw Date/Game/Selling Lottery
1. $1.586 Billion Jan. 13, 2016 Powerball CA, FL, TN
2. $656 Million Mar. 30, 2012 Mega Millions KS, IL, MD
3. $648 Million Dec. 17, 2013 Mega Millions CA, GA
4. $590.5 Million May 18, 2013 Powerball FL
5. $587.5 Million Nov. 28, 2012 Powerball AZ, MO
6. $564.1 Million Feb. 11, 2015 Powerball NC, PR, TX
7. $536.3 Million July 8, 2016 Mega Millions IN
8. $487 Million July 30, 2016 Powerball NH
9. $448.4 Million Aug. 7, 2013 Powerball MN, NJ, NJ
10. $447.8 Million June 10, 2017 Powerball CA
