Powerball® jackpot at Record Level

POWERBALL® JACKPOT AT ESTIMATED ALL-TIME HIGH OF $425 MILLION

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Wednesday’s estimated Powerball® jackpot of $425 million is the largest in the game’s history.

The largest Powerball® jackpot ever won was a $365 million jackpot that was shared by eight Nebraska co-workers in February of 2006. Scott Depot’s Jack Whittaker won $314.9 million on December 25, 2002. His jackpot amount now ranks as fifth largest Powerball jackpot win ever.

West Virginia Lottery Director John Musgrave says that ticket sales for the popular multi-state lottery game are strong and have been increasing with the jackpot amount.

“We are excited to have another record jackpot driving interest in the game,” Musgrave said. “We had statewide sales of $1.12 million for last Saturday’s drawing and we expect strong sales for Wednesday.”

Musgrave says West Virginia, despite a smaller population than most states, has had its fair share of Powerball® jackpot winners.

“West Virginia has historically been a lucky state with eight total Powerball® jackpot winners,” Musgrave said. “We are hopeful that another lucky West Virginia player has the winning ticket for Wednesday night’s drawing.”

Randy Smith of Martinsburg was West Virginia’s last Powerball® jackpot winner. Smith won $79 million ($44 million cash option) from the August 23, 2010 drawing.

The largest American lottery jackpot of all-time was the recent $656 million Mega Millions® jackpot from March of this year that was shared by three winners.