Powerball Jackpot Increased to $460 Million

Both Major Multi-State Jackpot Games Have Jackpots Above $400 Million at the Same Time

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Multi-State Lottery Association has revised the grand prize estimate for tonight’s Powerball drawing (Jan. 3) and the amount has been INCREASED to $460 million; $291 million cash value.

This now ranks as the 7th largest Powerball jackpot and 10th largest U.S. Lottery jackpot in history.

No one matched all six numbers from last night’s Mega Millions drawing and that game’s jackpot is now an estimated $418 million; $261 million cash value. This marks the first time ever that both the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots have been this high at the same time.

The Mega Millions jackpot for Friday (Jan. 5) is the 4th largest Mega Millions jackpot ever.

“Our players have two major jackpots to get excited about here at the start of the new year,” said Randy Burnside, West Virginia Lottery Public Relations Manager. “We have been fortunate here in West Virginia to have had eight Powerball jackpot winners and more than 30 winners of prizes of $1 million or more from the Powerball and Mega Millions games. We would love to see more West Virginia Lottery players join those clubs this week.”

Powerball drawings are held Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 PM ET, while Mega Millions drawings are held Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 PM ET.

Tickets for both games cost $2. Players can pay an extra dollar for the Power Play and Megaplier options that increase the amount won on non-jackpot prizes. Tickets can be purchased up until 9:59 p.m. on drawing days at any West Virginia Lottery retailer.

“It takes just one ticket to win and we do want to encourage people to play responsibly with the understanding that when you choose to play any Lottery game you are helping to make West Virginia better,” Burnside said. “The Legislature uses lottery proceeds to do a lot of great things that impact all West Virginians. When you play, you are not only having fun and taking a chance on winning a prize, you are making an investment in your State.”

West Virginia Lottery proceeds benefit Education, Seniors & Tourism. The Lottery has produced more than $9.5 Billion in proceeds to benefit the people of West Virginia since it began in 1986. Those proceeds are used to provide a myriad of programs and services such as backing School Building Authority bonds, funding for the PROMISE Scholarship Program, providing funds that provide nutrition and in-home care services to West Virginia seniors, and much more.

The current Powerball jackpot has been on the rise since October 25, when a Louisiana player claimed a $191 million jackpot. The current Mega Millions jackpot has been increasing since players in Rhode Island and Michigan split the $43 million jackpot for the October 13 drawing.

The largest Powerball jackpot on record was a $1.586 billion jackpot in January 2016.

The largest Mega Millions jackpot in history was $656 million—three winners from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland shared that record prize in March 2012.