Is This The Unluckiest Powerball Drawing In Lottery History?

Welp, there probably won’t be a lot of Chinese people playing Powerball Saturday night.

How do we know that? Because the jackpot is up to an estimated $444 million, and the numeral four is about as unlucky a number as exists in Chinese culture. Why? Because the pronunciation of the word sounds similar to the Chinese word for “death.”

This is serious business, so much so that the fourth floor is often omitted from elevators in China, which is crazy, except we do the same with “13” here in America, so, yeah. Not so crazy.

At any rate: Yep, $444 million. That’s enough to give someone a heart attack, although the cash value ($207.2 million) is decidedly less death-y.

Obviously, nobody won Wednesday’s drawing — numbers 8, 11, 21, 49, 59, and a red Powerball of 15. But two players — one in Texas, the other in Colorado — not only hit all five white balls, but they each bought the Power Play boost, which came in at 2x. As a result, they won $2 million each. Which adds up to … dramatic music … $4 million. Yikes.

This was the 26th consecutive Powerball drawing without a grand prize winner, since that jackpot was hit in Oregon on Jan. 18.

Lottery Geeks estimates about 13.1 million tickets were sold for Wednesday’s drawing.

Oh gosh, there’s a four in here also

The Mega Millions top prize for Friday night’s drawing is up to a cool $324 million, with a cash value of $150.6 million.

Nobody won it all Tuesday, with numbers 27, 28, 31, 32, 33 and a gold Mega Ball of 24, though there was a single Match 5 winner from California who scored $1 million for matching all five white balls.

That was the 17th drawing since someone last claimed the jackpot. 

Lottery Geeks estimates ticket sales of about 12.9 million for Tuesday’s drawing.

Tickets for either lottery cost $2, with most states offering the multiplier option — which impacts any prize won except the jackpot — 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. 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. $1.22 billion, Mega Millions, Dec. 27, 2024, won in California
10. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024, won in New Jersey

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. $571.9 million, Mega Millions, Dec. 27, 2024, won in California