Powerball Jackpot Soars Above $1B For 2nd Time This Year

ACROSS AMERICA — Monday’s estimated $1.04 billion Powerball jackpot is fueling lottery ticket sales across the country after no one hit it big in Saturday’s drawing. It’s the second billion-dollar-plus Powerball prize this year.

Numbers drawn Saturday were 19, 30, 37, 44, 46 and the red Powerball of 22. The jackpot in the 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time drawing Monday is the ninth-largest lottery prize of all time. It’s the second-largest jackpot this year, and the fourth-largest jackpot in the history of the game.

A jackpot winner in Monday’s drawing may claim the full prize through annualized payments over 30 years or the cash option, which is an estimated $478.2 million. In either case, the winnings are taxable.

The odds of winning the jackpot are terrible, about 1 in 292.2 million. The odds of winning any prize are better, at 1 in 24.9.

In Saturday’s drawing, players in Indiana and North Carolina were $2 million winners. Two players in Florida and one each in Maryland, Michigan, and Pennsylvania bought tickets worth $1 million.

Powerball tickets are $2 per play. Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

More than half of all proceeds from the sale of a Powerball ticket remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold.

Powerball numbers are drawn three times a week — at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Florida Lottery studio in Tallahassee.