$1.5B Powerball Jackpot For Saturday, Nov. 5: What To Know In WA

SEATTLE — The Powerball jackpot has ballooned to a staggering $1.5 billion for the Saturday, Nov. 5, drawing after no one matched the winning numbers Wednesday. Players in the Evergreen State will need to pick up their tickets by 6:45 p.m. Saturday for a chance at the near-record lottery prize.

Powerball drawings are held at 7:59 p.m. PT on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

In Wednesday’s Powerball drawing, the winning numbers were 02, 11, 22, 35 and 60, with a Powerball of 23. While no one hit the jackpot, lottery officials said more than 7.2 million tickets won smaller cash prizes totaling $74.9 million.

Big winners include 16 tickets in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas and Virginia that matched all five white balls to win $1 million. Three tickets in Arkansas, Montana and New Jersey matched all five white balls and included the "Power Play" option, increasing the payout to $2 million. Another 189 tickets won a $50,000 prize, and 49 tickets won a $100,000 prize.

Jackpot winners may choose to receive their prize as an annuity paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years, or they may take a cash payout, which is estimated at $745.9 million for the next game. Nearly all winners choose cash.

The estimated $1.5 billion jackpot is the third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history, and the second-largest in the history of the Powerball game.

The jackpot has gone unclaimed since Aug. 3, and the longer it goes without a winner, the closer it comes to the world record $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot in 2016.

The odds of winning are abysmal, about 1 in 292.2 million. Odds of winning any prize are better, 1 in 24.9. Just one Powerball jackpot has been claimed in Washington since the game was launched: a Boeing worker who took home a $56.8 million cash payout on a $90 million jackpot in 2014.

A Powerball ticket costs $2. For an additional $1 per ticket, players can multiply non-jackpot prizes by up to 10 times with the Power Play feature. One caveat: The 10X multiplier is only available when the advertised jackpot annuity is $150 million or less.

To win the jackpot, a player must match all white balls in any order and the red Powerball number. Lottery officials say chances are higher when players don’t choose their own numbers. About 75 percent of winning tickets over the years were picked by a computer.

Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. According to Powerball, more than half of all ticket sales remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold.

>> You can find retailers selling lottery tickets on the Powerball website and check your tickets via WA Lottery.