Saturday’s Powerball Soars To $1.8B: 2nd Largest Lottery Jackpot Ever Triggers CA Frenzy

The estimated jackpot in Saturday’s Powerball drawing has soared even higher to $1.8 billion, though Californian players are about as likely to win it as they are to be eaten by a shark.

Still, the chance at the estimated $1.8 billion jackpot, which has a cash payout of an estimated $826.4 million, is fueling a frenzy of ticket sales in California and across the country. Saturday’s estimated jackpot now ranks as the second-largest in U.S. lottery history. California has fared well when it comes to record jackpots in the past. Four winners of the only six $1 billion+ jackpots in history were from the Golden State.

The Powerball jackpot surged higher after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn on Wednesday night — white balls 3, 16, 29, 61, and 69, and the red Powerball 22. The Power Play multiplier was 2. Two lucky lottery players in Southern California won just under $1 million after matching five of six numbers in the Powerball drawing on Wednesday.

The drawings are held three times a week — Monday, Wednesday and Saturday — at 6:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

The California Lottery has identified the luckiest retailers in neighborhoods across the Golden State, easy to find on its website. These are sites where lottery prizes have been recorded, either in draw games, like Powerball, or Scratchers tickets. Tickets worth large prizes have been sold in each of these locations.

Enter your city, address or zip code to find the luckiest spot to buy a ticket near you.

“Excitement is building as players look forward to [Saturday] night’s drawing for this historic jackpot,” Matt Strawn, Powerball Product Group chair, said in a news release. “We encourage everyone to play responsibly and take pride in knowing that every $2 ticket also helps support good causes in their community.”

Now, about those odds: They’re terrible.

The Powerball’s odds, at 1 in 292.2 million, are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes becoming ever larger as they repeatedly roll over when no one wins.

The sportsbook Bookies.com compared the odds of winning the jackpot to other “real-life” events. The odds of being eaten by a shark are 1 in 264 million, although the odds of being attacked are lower, at 1 in 15 million.

Here are five more comparisons:

• A perfect NCAA basketball tournament bracket: 1 in 20.1 billion
• Becoming the U.S. president: 1 in 32.6 million
• Being struck by lightning twice: 1 in 19 million
• Dying in a plane crash: 1 in 11 million
• Being attacked by a grizzly bear in Yellowstone: 1 in 2.7 million

Powerball officials note that the odds are far better — 1 in 24.9. — for the game’s many smaller prizes. More than 6.3 million tickets won a cash prize in Wednesday’s drawing.

Nationwide, 11 tickets matched all five white balls to win $1 million prizes in Wednesday's drawing.

There were also 117 tickets that won $50,000 prizes (Match 4 + PB) and 36 tickets that won $100,000 prizes (Match 4 + PB + Power Play).

Saturday’s drawing will be the 42nd since the Powerball jackpot was last won on May 31, 2025, in California. The current streak is the game record for the most consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner. Previously, the record stood at 41 drawings, which occurred last on April 6, 2024, with a $1.326 billion jackpot won in Oregon.

Here are the top 10 Powerball jackpots:

1. $2.04 billion, Nov. 7, 2022 (California)
2. $1.8 billion (estimated if there’s a winner), Saturday, Sept. 6
3. $1.765 billion, Oct. 11, 2023 (California)
4. $1.586 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 (California, Florida, Tennessee)
5. $1.326 billion, April 6, 2024 (Oregon)
6. $1.08 billion, July 19, 2023 (California)
7. $842.4 million, Jan. 1, 2024 (Michigan)
8. $768.4 million, March 27, 2019 (Wisconsin)
9. $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 (Massachusetts)
10. $754.6 million, Feb. 6, 2023 (Washington)

SEE ALSO:

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• CA Gas Station Sells 2 Jackpot-Winning Mega Millions Tickets
• $2.04 Billion Jackpot Winner Comes Forward in California
• 'Rude' Man Pushes LA Woman Into $10 Million Lottery Jackpot