Powerball Results: Winning numbers drawn for $750M lottery jackpot

AP logo
Monday, October 29, 2018
How does the lottery jackpot grow?
Each jackpot starts at $40 million, but how does it grow to hundreds of millions or more?

Lottery fever heated up once again Saturday night. The estimated jackpot for Saturday's Powerball drawing was $750 million, among the largest lottery drawings in U.S. history.



This came just days after a single winner of the Mega Millions scored an estimated $1.5 billion jackpot, the second largest.



Saturday night's winning numbers were: 8, 12, 13, 19 and 27. Powerball: 4



Saturday's cash option is $428.6 million.



Tickets have six numbers, all of which must be matched to win the jackpot. You can choose your own six numbers or have them randomly assigned. Each number goes from 1 to 69, except for the final number which ranges from 1 to 26.



Powerball is played in 44 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Tickets may be purchased for $2.



RELATED: What to consider if you win the lottery



Powerball Odds


For every drawing, the overall odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338.



Wednesday's winning numbers were: 3, 21, 45, 53, 56 and Powerball 22. No one hit all six numbers.



There were seven tickets claiming the second-tier prize, which is worth $1 million, by getting the first five numbers correct. The tickets were sold in Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Wisconsin.



Powerball Jackpot


Powerball jackpots start out at $40 million and roll over if there is no jackpot winner. The last time a winning jackpot was drawn was on August 11 when a man from Staten Island, New York, won $245.6 million. There have been 20 drawings since then without a winner.



RELATED: Why do the lottery jackpots get so high?



Lottery Jackpot History


Tuesday's drawing was both the largest Mega Millions drawing ever and the second largest overall lottery jackpot.



The highest jackpot in U.S. history was a Powerball drawing of $1.586 billion in January of 2016.



Don't be disappointed if you didn't match the winning numbers for the $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot - there's still big money on the line with tonight's Powerball lottery drawing.



The cash option, after the government takes its cut, is $428.6 million.



The jackpot is the third largest in Powerball history, and the sixth largest in U.S. lottery history.



Despite the tough odds, they're actually a little better than the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot.



Powerball's current estimated $750 million prize refers to the annuity option paid over 29 years. Most winners take the cash option.



The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.