Powerball Jackpot Hits $1.73B: Odds, Ticket Deadline In Wisconsin

WISCONSIN — The Powerball jackpot moved closer to record territory with a $1.73 billion grand prize on the line in Wednesday’s drawing. If Wisconsin players want a shot at it, they’ll have to buy their tickets by 9 p.m.

Find out where to buy tickets on the Wisconsin Lottery website.

The odds of winning the jackpot are steep — about 1 in 292.2 million. For perspective, the odds of being struck by lightning are less than 1 in 1 million.

And if you do win, keep in mind the federal government takes a 24 percent cut of any prize worth $5,000 or more. Most jackpot winners take the lump sum — that’s $756.6 million for Wednesday’s game — and they immediately see fewer dollars flow into their bank accounts when the prize is paid out.

If the $1.73 billion prize were paid out in an annuity spread over 30 years, the IRS would claim 24 percent before the payments went out. In either case, a jackpot winner would jump into the highest income tax bracket, and would pay the top federal rate of 37 percent.

All but eight states — California, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming — also tax big lottery prizes. In winnings over $2,000, Wisconsin takes 7.65 percent in taxes.

Five tickets sold for Monday’s drawing matched all five white balls — 16, 34, 46, 55, 67 — but failed to match the red Powerball of 14.

Four of the tickets, one each in California, Indiana, Oregon and Maine, were worth $1 million. A Florida player spent another couple of bucks and added the multiplier to the ticket, making it worth $2 million. Another 101 tickets won $50,000 prizes, and 17 tickets won $150,000 prizes.

Wednesday’s jackpot is the second-largest in U.S. lottery history, trailing only the world record $2.04 billion jackpot won in California on Nov. 7, 2022. Wednesday’s drawing at 10:59 p.m. EDT is the 36th without a winner.

Overall, 3.7 million tickets worth a prize of at least $2 were sold for Monday’s drawing.

Powerball tickets are $2 per play. The game is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. EST from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee.