Power-Billion: Jackpot Estimate For Monday Powerball Drawing Inflated To An Even $1B

Immediately after Saturday night’s Powerball drawing came and went without a grand prize winner for the 38th time in a row, the jackpot for the Monday night drawing went up to an estimated $975 million.

Ho-hum. Nice money, to be sure. But, just a few days after a lucky customer in New Jersey binked a $1.13 billion Mega Millions score, that number wasn’t quite going to get every heart pounding.

Well, if $975,000,000 feels a bit run-of-the-mill, how does $1,000,000,000 strike you?

With ticket sales running a bit hotter than anticipated, Powerball officials announced Monday morning — while specifying that this April Fool’s Day news was not some sort of prank — that the estimate had been adjusted upward to an even $1 billion.

“This is no April Fools’ Day joke, we have an advertised Powerball jackpot that’s hit $1 billion to kick off the month of April,” said Powerball Product Group Chair and Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko. “This is an exciting time to play Powerball. Whether you’re a frequent or new player, please remember to keep the game fun by playing responsibly.”

Powerball joins the five-timers’ club

This marks the fifth time ever that the Powerball jackpot has reached the billion-dollar mark, and the 11th time any U.S. jackpot has hit 10 figures, counting the six times Mega Millions has crossed the barrier.

While the annuity payment is estimated at $1 billion for Monday, the lump-sum option would be an estimated $483.8 million.

The drawing is scheduled for 10:50 p.m. ET, and ticket sales will remain open in most juridictions until an hour or two before the draw time.

Tickets cost $2 (in some states, there’s an additional $1 option for the “Power Play” multiplier) and are sold in 45 states, plus Puerto, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, while the odds of winning some sort of prize are 1 in 24.9.

It was exactly three months ago, on Jan. 1, that the Powerball jackpot was last hit, with an annuity value that day of $842.4 million. A single player in Michigan had a perfect six-for-six match to take the prize.

All-time biggest jackpots

At an even $1 billion, Monday’s drawing is for what would be the 11th largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history. The top 10 are as follows:

1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
2. $1.76 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
3. $1.6 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
4. $1.59 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
5. $1.54 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
6. $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
7. $1.34 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
8. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024, won in New Jersey
9. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California
10. $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021, won in Michigan

And here are the all-time top 10 by lump-sum cash values:

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. $794.2 million, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
5. $780.5 million, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
6. $776.6 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021, won in Michigan
7. $774.1 million, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
8. $723.5 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
9. $558.1 million, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California
10. $546.8 million, Powerball, Jan. 20, 2021, won in Maryland