Powerball jackpot hits $760M, among largest on record: How long until the next drawing?
(WKBN/NEXSTAR) — The Powerball jackpot has rolled again, reaching an estimated $760 million after no ticket had the winning numbers in Wednesday's drawing.
Those numbers for Wednesday night's drawing were white balls 4, 11, 38, 51, 68, and red ball 5. The Power Play was 3X.
While nobody matched all six winning numbers, a ticket sold in Texas matched all five white numbers and the Power Play, making it worth $2 million. A ticket in California matched all five white numbers, making it worth $1 million.
The current jackpot — now worth an estimated $760 million with a cash value of $382.5 million — has been building since October, when a California ticket landed a prize worth $1.765 billion.
Should the jackpot be won this month, it would be the largest-ever December prize in Powerball history, according to game records. That title is currently held by a $298.3 million jackpot won by a New York ticket on December 26, 2018.
The current jackpot also ranks among the largest in Powerball history, coming in behind a $768.4 million prize won by a 2019 ticket in Wisconsin. Here are the top 10 jackpots so far:
- $2.04 billion: Nov. 7, 2022; California
- $1.765 billion: Oct. 11, 2023; California
- $1.586 billion: Jan. 13, 2016; California, Florida, Tennessee
- $1.08 billion: July 19, 2023; California
- $768.4 million: March 27, 2019; Wisconsin
- Est. $760 million: Dec. 30, 2023
- $758.7 million: Aug. 23, 2017; Massachusetts
- $754.6 million: Feb. 6, 2023; Washington
- $731.1 million: Jan. 20, 2021; Maryland
- $699.8 million: Oct. 4, 2021; California
A winner would, however, receive much less than the advertised $760 million, or the $382.5 million cash value.
There are two payout options a Powerball jackpot winner chooses from: the cash lump sum payment and the annuitized option. The cash payout is the amount of money Powerball officials believe they’ll have in the prize pool at the time of the drawing, which would be enough to fund the annuity option. The annuitized amount is what you’ll see advertised most. If you select the annuity option, you’ll receive an initial payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year.
With either payout, you’d see a large chunk automatically withheld for taxes. Though some states do not have a state lottery tax withholding, they all must withhold 24% in federal tax on prizes as large as this jackpot. With additional taxes, you’ll see roughly 37% of your prize money withheld, should you win.
In states without a local lottery tax, a winner for the current Powerball jackpot would take home $241 million with the cash option or $480 million overall with the annuitized payments, according to calculations by USA Mega. This is true for the states that do not have a local lottery tax.
Outside of those states, a winner could land anywhere between $231.4 million in the cash prize or $460.9 million with the annuitized option (in Arizona) and $199.3 million in the cash option or $443.8 million in the annuitized payout (in New York), according to USA Mega.
The above estimates are also reflective of the best-case scenario. You could end up splitting your Powerball jackpot with another winner — or two, or even more. Even though the odds of winning the jackpot are slim (1 in 292.2 million), 18 of the more than 200 Powerball jackpots won since 2003 have been split by at least two tickets.
If you’re lucky enough to win the jackpot, even if you’re splitting it, experts recommend moving quickly to assemble a team that includes an attorney, a tax advisor and a financial advisor. They also encourage protecting your ticket and keeping your victory a secret for as long as possible — which may be easier in states that allow jackpot winners to remain anonymous.
If you're ready to test your luck, the next Powerball drawing is Saturday, December 30 at 10:59 p.m. ET.
Powerball tickets are $2 each and sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition to Saturdays, drawings are held every Monday and Wednesday at 10:59 p.m. ET. Players have a 1 in 24.9 chance of winning any Powerball prize.
As of right now, the Mega Millions sits at $92 million. The next drawing in that game is Friday, December 29 at 11 p.m. ET.