WASHINGTON — With no jackpot winners yet again in Saturday's drawing, the Powerball jackpot has surged past $600 million.
The grand prize is now at $610 million for the next drawing on Monday — $292.6 million if the winner chooses the more popular cash option. The lottery game says this is the 8th biggest Powerball jackpot ever.
Players must match all five numbers and the Powerball to win the jackpot. While no one beat the 2 in 292.2 million odds to win the jackpot Saturday, a handful of tickets matched the five numbers to win $1 million. These tickets were sold in New York, South Carolina and Texas.
The Powerball jackpot has been growing since early August, racking up 34 drawings without a big winner.
It's not the first time this year a major lottery game has grown to eyebrow-raising levels. Americans were sent into a lottery frenzy this summer when a near-record $1.377 billion Mega Millions jackpot was up for grabs in July. Two people from Illinois came forward last month to claim that prize, but they chose to stay anonymous.
Powerball still holds the world record for largest jackpot with a whopping $1.586 billion prize won in 2016. That prize was shared by winners in Tennessee, Florida and California.
While this jackpot is Powerball's 8th largest, it still has a ways to go before it hits the total top 10. Here's a look at the biggest U.S. jackpots ever, according to the Associated Press.
- $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
- $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)
- $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin)
- $758.7 million, Powerball, Aug. 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts)
- $731.1 million, Powerball, Jan. 20, 2021 (one ticket, from Maryland)
- $699.8 million, Powerball, Oct. 4, 2021 (one ticket, from California)
- $687.8 million, Powerball, Oct. 27, 2018 (two tickets, from Iowa and New York)
- $656 million, Mega Millions, March 30, 2012 (three tickets, from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland)
Powerball jackpot winners have the option of receiving an annuity payment, paid over 29 years, or a lump sum payment. There have been five Powerball jackpot winners so far in 2022.