UPDATE — Make it 35 drawings without a winner, so the Powerball jackpot rises to $1.75 billion on Wednesday night.
While five people nationwide, including a Floridian, matched the white ball numbers of 16-34-46-55-67, they didn't get the red power ball of 14 to go with it.
The details of it remain the same as the story on Monday's drawing below.
It's been 34 drawings since the Powerball jackpot paid out — so winning $1.55 billion could be a great way to shake off those Monday blues!
While your chances of winning it all are minuscule (1 in 292.2 million), there is one way to greatly increase your chances of winning tonight's drawing (10:59 p.m.; get your tickets by 10 p.m.): buy a ticket.
The jackpot awarded tonight is the third highest in game history, after a $2.04 billion one on Nov. 7, 2022, and a $1.58 billion jackpot that three people shared Jan. 13, 2016. The last time Powerball was won, on July 19 of this year, the prize was $1.08 billion and, three months and 34 drawings without a winner later (they happen on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays), here we are again talking about billions.
In reality, the winner will not be a billionaire, as taxes of about 37 percent must be paid on winnings. And that's if you take the winnings over 30 years. The up-front cash payment would be about $679.8 million. It gets so big because it's nearly a nationwide contests (45 states plus D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), and it's hard to win. Players select five numbers between 1 and 69 for the white balls, then select one number between 1 and 26 for the red Powerball. You must match all five white ball numbers plus the Powerball to win the top prize, but just matching the Powerball gets you $3, if you match all five white balls you win $1 million, and there's a bunch of prizes in between.
Powerball tickets are $2 per play (you can add the "Power Play" for an extra $1 to multiply all non-jackpot wins ... but if it was a good bet they wouldn't offer it), and you need to buy them by 10 p.m. on a drawing night to be eligible for that draw, which happens at 11 p.m. Eastern time. Check out Powerball.com for results.
And, of course ... GOOD LUCK PLAYERS!!!
