Powerball Jackpot Up To $1.3 Billion, Cracks All-Time Top 10 US Lottery Prizes

There aren’t many purchases you can make that come with a potential 650,000,000X return on investment. But that’s where things stand coming off the Labor Day holiday weekend with the Powerball jackpot.

For Wednesday night’s drawing, costing $2 to enter, the grand prize has risen to an estimated $1.3 billion (with potential to go higher if ticket sales exceed expectations), making this the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot ever and the ninth-largest in U.S. draw lottery history, counting Mega Millions jackpots as well.

The estimated lump-sum cash prize is $589 million, good for 10th on the all-time U.S. lottery list and the fifth biggest ever for Powerball.

And the astronomical numbers don’t stop there.

According to Lottery Geeks’ estimates, nationwide some 118.1 million tickets were sold for this past Saturday’s drawing with a $1.03 billion top prize, and 113.5 million were purchased for Monday’s $1.2 billion drawing. (The apparent slight decrease in sales likely owes to a three-day sales window for Saturday vs. a two-day sales window for Monday.)

For comparison: When the jackpot was worth an advertised $204.5 million the last time it hit, on May 31, about 14.6 million tickets were sold.

Million-dollar wins out the wazoo

Those last two drawings, on Saturday and Monday, each produced 12 “Match 5” winners of $1 million or more.

On Saturday, 10 customers won an even million bucks before taxes (including two who bought their tickets in New Jersey), along with two, in North Carolina and Montana, who paid an extra dollar for the Power Play and therefore won $2 million.

In Monday’s drawing, nine players won $1 million (including a whopping four in California) while three — in Colorado, Indiana, and New Hampshire — scored $2 million with the Power Play.

But with nobody going a perfect 6-for-6 on Monday, that means the streak is up to 40 straight drawings without a jackpot winner. The longest stretch in Powerball history without a winner is 42 consecutive drawings.

The winning numbers Monday were 8, 23, 25, 40, and 53 with red Powerball 5, and on Saturday, the balls came out 3, 18, 22, 27, 33, and red 17.

Meanwhile, over at Mega Millions

The Powerball madness is understandably overshadowing Mega Millions at the moment, but the top prize there is beginning to balloon as well. After nobody claimed last Friday’s estimated $277 million jackpot, the potential reward now sits at $302 million for Tuesday night, with a cash option of $136 million.

Mega Millions is likely two drawings away from setting a new record for jackpot size in the $5 ticket era, established the last time it was won, on June 27 in Virginia, for $348 million.

The winning numbers Friday were 13, 31, 32, 44, and 45, with a gold Mega Ball of 21. Not only were there no perfect 6-for-6 tickets, but nobody reached the million-dollar mark either by matching the five white balls.

Lottery Geeks estimates 7.6 million tickets were sold for Friday’s drawing.

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. $1.76 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. $1.33 billion, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
9. $1.3 billion (estimated), Powerball, ACTIVE
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. $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. $621 million, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
10. $589 million (estimated), Powerball, ACTIVE