Powerball Jackpot Grows To $478 Million, Not Exactly A ‘Micro’ Prize

The Powerball jackpot has climbed to $478 million for Wednesday’s drawing. That means by the next drawing after that, if nobody wins the grand prize Wednesday night, this thing could cross the half-billion-dollar mark.

And it also means if there is a winner Wednesday, they’ll be able to buy up everything made in Micronesia, including services, for an entire year and still have $50 million or so for walking around money.

OK, there are some caveats: The $478 million prize would be paid out over 30 years, whereas if you took the lump-sum cash payment on the jackpot, it’s “only” 230.5 million, and that’s before taxes. Micronesia’s gross domestic product came in at $427 million in 2022.

So could you really buy everything made in Micronesia in year? No.

But is it more interesting than just saying “almost a half-billion dollars”? Absolutely.

Fun Micronesia money fact: On the Yap Islands (one of 600 islands making up Micronesia), the people there used to use something called Rai stones as money. Some of them weighed up to four tons or so.

Good luck making change.

All right, enough about Micronesia, let’s talk lottery: Wednesday’s drawing will be the 28th since the last Powerball victory, and Monday’s drawing — with winning numbers 1, 25, 57, 62, and 64, with a red Powerball of 15 — yielded a pair of Match 5 winners for $1 million each. Those winning tickets were sold in Florida and Texas. 

Lottery Geeks estimates nearly 13.1 million tickets were sold for the drawing.

Mega Millions crosses $200M

Last Friday night, for the 11th consecutive time, no one won the Mega Millions jackpot, which makes Tuesday night’s drawing worth $205 million (with a cash value of $97.5 million).

The winning numbers from Friday — 4, 9, 26, 39, and 58, with a gold Mega Ball of 23 — not only didn’t yield a grand prize winner, but no one matched all five white balls for a million bucks either.

Lottery Geeks estimates nearly 11.1 million tickets were sold for that drawing.

Tickets for either lottery cost $2, with most states offering a prize multiplier option for an additional $1.

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, while 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. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024, won in New Jersey
10. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023, 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. $558.1 million, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California