Powerball Fever: Jackpot Soars to $1.73 Billion, Second-Largest Jackpot in U.S. History

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any bigger…the Powerball® jackpot spiked to an estimated $1.73 billion for the next drawing on Wednesday night. The jackpot has an estimated cash value of $756.6 million.

Wednesday’s estimated jackpot ranks as the second-largest Powerball jackpot and U.S. lottery jackpot, only behind the world record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won in California on November 7, 2022.

The Powerball jackpot rolled Monday night, after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn – white balls 16, 34, 46, 55, 67 and red Powerball 14. The Power Play® multiplier was 3X.

The Monday night drawing produced more than 3.7 million winning tickets across the country, including four tickets (California, Indiana, Oregon, Virginia) that matched all five white balls to win $1 million prizes. Note: In California, prize payout amounts are pari-mutuel and determined by sales and the number of winners.

One ticket in Florida matched all five white balls and increased the $1 million prize to $2 million by including the Power Play® feature for an additional $1 per play. Other big wins include 101 tickets that won $50,000 prizes, and 17 tickets that won $150,000 prizes.

The upcoming drawing on Wednesday will be the 36th drawing 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 on July 19, when a ticket in California won a jackpot worth $1.08 billion.

If a player wins the jackpot on Wednesday night, they will have the choice between an annuitized prize worth an estimated $1.73 billion or a lump sum payment estimated at $756.6 million. Both prize options are before taxes. If the winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year.

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 drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. EST from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. Powerball drawings are also live streamed on Powerball.com.

The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

Top 10 Powerball Jackpots