Two Winning Tickets Split $1.787 Billion Powerball Jackpot

After a record 41 consecutive Powerball drawings without a jackpot winner, the streak ended Saturday night — and the lucky winners got mildly unlucky in that they have to split the prize down the middle.

A ticket sold in Missouri and a ticket sold in Texas matched the winning numbers of 11, 23, 44, 61, and 62 with a red Powerball of 17.

The jackpot ultimately came out to $1.787 billion — a shade below the final estimate of $1.8 billion — meaning each winning ticket is worth $893.5 million, or $410.3 million if the winners take the lump-sum cash option.

As of press time, neither of the grand prize winners had come forward publicly.

The drawing also produced a whopping 20 “Match 5” winners spread across 13 states who won at least $1 million for connecting with everything but the red Powerball. Two of those — one customer in Texas and one in Kansas— paid extra for the Power Play option and won $2 million before taxes.

It should not be surprising that there were so many big winners as jackpot fever gripped the nation and sales numbers were massive. Though official Powerball sales numbers are not released, Lottery Geeks estimates 258.3 million tickets were sold.

Had the jackpot rolled over one more time, the all-time record jackpot of $2.04 billion surely would have been surpassed.

Mega Millions sets record of its own

With the Powerball bubble bursting and the jackpot reset to $20 million for Monday night, Mega Millions is now the biggest game out there.

Nobody won Friday’s drawing — winning numbers 6, 14, 36, 58, 62, and gold Mega Ball 24 — bringing the jackpot for Tuesday to $358 million. That is the highest it’s been since Mega Millions raised its ticket price to $5 in April.

Lottery Geeks estimates 10.5 million tickets were sold for Friday’s Mega Millions drawing — about 4% of the estimated sales for Saturday’s Powerball.

Tickets for Mega Millions cost $5, while Powerball tickets cost $2. Most states offer the multiplier option for Powerball, which impacts any prize won except the jackpot, for an additional $1. Mega Millions comes with an automatic multiplier for any prize except the jackpot.

Both Powerball and Mega Millions are legal in all states except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah. Tickets for both draw games are also sold in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Puerto Rico, customers can buy tickets for Powerball, but not for Mega Millions.

All-time biggest jackpots

Here is a list of the all-time top 10 U.S. lottery jackpots:

1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
2. $1.79 billion, Powerball, Sept. 6, 2025, won in Missouri and Texas
3. $1.76 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
4. $1.6 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
5. $1.59 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
6. $1.54 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
7. $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
8. $1.34 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
9. $1.33 billion, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
10. $1.22 billion, Mega Millions, Dec. 27, 2024, won in California

And here’s the all-time top 10 by lump-sum cash value:

1. $997.6 million, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
2. $983.5 million, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
3. $877.8 million, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
4. $820.6 million, Powerball, Sept. 6, 2025, won in Missouri and Texas
5. $794.2 million, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
6. $780.5 million, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
7. $776.6 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021, won in Michigan
8. $774.1 million, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
9. $723.5 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
10. $621 million, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon