The Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $760 million after no one matched the game’s six numbers Wednesday and won the giant prize.
The winning numbers on Wednesday were 4, 11, 38, 51, 68, and a red Powerball of 5. The Power Play was 3x.
The prize is now $760 million for Friday’s drawing. But that’s only for winners who choose to take their riches through an annuity, paid annually over 29 years. Nearly all winners opt for cash, which is currently estimated at $382.5 million, before taxes.
This is the fourth Powerball jackpot to exceed half a billion dollars this calendar year. The Powerball jackpot was previously won on Oct. 11 when a ticket in California won a $1.765 billion grand prize. That winner has yet to come forward.
Since then, there have been 34 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner. The winless streak is due to the abysmal odds of winning: one in 292.2 million.
The jackpot rose to $700 million on Wednesday after no one scored the winning numbers on the Christmas Day drawing. Historically, there have been only three Powerball jackpots won on Christmas: The last time was ten years ago, on Dec. 25, 2013, when a ticket in Missouri won the $71.5 million jackpot.
The largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history stands at $2.04 billion and was won by a single Powerball ticket in California on Nov. 7, 2022. The winner, Edwin Castro, came forward earlier this year after months of speculation.
Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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