For the 36th consecutive drawing, no one matched all the Powerball numbers on Wednesday — meaning Saturday’s jackpot will be worth an estimated $800 million.
The new total makes Saturday’s prize the fifth-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, Powerball officials say. The biggest occurred in 2016, when the jackpot reached $1.586 billion.
If someone wins the upcoming drawing, the jackpot will be awarded in 29 annual payments. Or the winner can choose a lump sum payment of $383.7 million after taxes, lottery officials say.
That’s not to say matching all five numbers plus the Powerball is easy; the odds of doing it are one in 292.2 million.
Powerball drawings are every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 7:59 pm.
