Powerball Back Over $500 Million Rolling Into Weekend Draw

It’s been a little less than two months since a Powerball player in Illinois won a massive $1.04 billion jackpot, and after a 24th consecutive rollover Wednesday night the advertised grand prize value is now halfway back to that billion-dollar mark.

With an estimated jackpot for Wednesday of $485 million, the winning numbers were 11, 13, 14, 21, and 65, plus red Powerball 19. Nobody connected on all of them — or even on the Match Five (everything but the red ball). The biggest winners were a trio of players who earned $100,000.

So for Saturday night’s drawing, the jackpot sits at an estimated $516 million, with a lump-sum cash value of $212.6 million.

Between January and May, the jackpot hit five times and the top prize never climbed above $251 million, but it’s been a tale of two dry spells since. Three months and 10 days passed between the May 2 win for the minimum $20 million and the Aug. 12 billion-dollar hit. If nobody takes it down this Saturday, Powerball will again reach at least two months without a winner.

Lottery Geeks estimates 14.6 million tickets were sold for Wednesday’s drawing.

Mega past one-third of a billion

Mega Millions only pulls balls twice a week instead of three times like Powerball, so that jackpot tends to be a slower build, but that game is also on a lengthy run without a winner. There have been 20 rollovers since the last win — for $803 million in Florida on July 28 — bringing the jackpot over $350 million for the third time this year.

Specifically, the estimated top prize sits at $364 million (cash option: $147.3 million) for Friday night after no winners were crowned Tuesday. The winning numbers that night were 26, 32, 42, 51, and 54, with gold Mega Ball 22. Though the jackpot was not claimed, two new millionaires were minted — one for $3 million in Florida and another for $2 million in New Jersey.

Lottery Geeks estimates a shade over 5 million tickets were sold for Tuesday’s game.

Tickets for Mega Millions cost $5 and 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 and the U.K., 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. $1.82 billion, Powerball, Dec. 24, 2025, won in Arkansas
3. $1.79 billion, Powerball, Sept. 6, 2025, won in Missouri and Texas
4. $1.76 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
5. $1.6 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
6. $1.59 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
7. $1.54 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
8. $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
9. $1.34 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
10. $1.33 billion, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon

Here is 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. $834.9 million, Powerball, Dec. 24, 2025, won in Arkansas
5. $820.6 million, Powerball, Sept. 6, 2025, won in Missouri and Texas
6. $794.2 million, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
7. $780.5 million, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
8. $776.6 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021, won in Michigan
9. $774.1 million, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
10. $723.5 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine