$1.4B Powerball Jackpot Saturday Fuels Dreams Among Occasional Players

ACROSS AMERICA — The Powerball jackpot has reached $1.4 billion for Saturday’s drawing — a threshold that’s prompting people all over America to dream about what they’d do with all that money if they’re able to match all five white numbers and the red Powerball.The prize has a cash value of $643.7 million.

Dream, but don’t actually count on having the money to spend. The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

Gale Groseclose, who was buying Powerball tickets in Pineville, North Carolina, for Wednesday’s drawing, told The Associated Press a $1 million prize would be plenty for her but the size of the jackpot caught her attention.

“I don’t usually do this on a regular basis, but like I said, when it gets to be, what is it? I don’t even know what, over 1 billion dollars,” Groseclose said. “It’s exciting.”

Groseclose’s ticket, like millions of others, wasn’t a jackpot winner, so the prize for Saturday’s drawing continued to swell. The five white balls Wednesday were 9, 35, 54, 63 and 64, and the red Powerball was 1. The PowerPlay multiplier was 2X.

Importantly, the game’s odds remain the same, regardless of the number of people playing and the quantity of tickets they buy. Those odds mean there are 292.2 million possible number combinations.

To put the immensity of that into context, note that for Monday's drawing players across the country chose just over 20 percent of those possible combinations. That means nearly 80 percent of the possible combinations were not selected, so the odds were pretty good that there wouldn't be a winner.

Typically, the larger the jackpot grows, the more people play and the more combinations are covered. People also usually buy more tickets on Saturdays, which increases the chance of a winner for those drawings.

Eric Warner, who also was buying tickets in Pineville, told the AP he would immediately buy a Porsche if he won the big jackpot and then invest most of the money for himself and his community. Warner said he never really expects to win but enjoys buying a ticket now and then.

“It’s something that I run into and maybe I’m feeling lucky," he said. “Then I’ll go ahead and pick up a ticket and just kind of hope for the best.”

Saturday’s jackpot is the third largest in the Powerball game and fifth largest among U.S. lottery jackpots.

More than 3.2 million winning tickets were sold for Wednesday’s drawing, including three $2 million winners, one each in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Texas. Those ticket holders had played the multiplier, doubling their winnings on tickets that matched all five white balls.

Seven other players matched the white balls and won $1 million. Those tickets were sold in California and Texas, each with two $1 million winners, and Colorado, New York and Pennsylvania.

In Florida, players can choose an add-on feature — the Double Play drawing. One $500,000 ticket was sold.

Saturday’s drawing will be the 34th in the jackpot run, and the first time in Powerball history that back-to-back jackpot cycles have generated billion-dollar grand prizes. The Powerball jackpot was previously won July 19, when a ticket in California won a jackpot worth $1.08 billion.
Prizes may be claimed as a lump sum or in annual payments over 30 years. Both prizes are subject to taxes.

Powerball tickets are $2 per play. Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The five states that don't participate in the games are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.

Drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.