Powerball jackpot rises to $535 million, up for grabs Saturday evening
The Powerball jackpot surpassed $500 million this week
California convenience store owner presented with $1M check after selling willing Powerball ticket
The owner of Las Palmitas Mini Market, Navor Herrera, received a $1M check during a press conference with Powerball officials on Thursday morning. (FOX 11)
The next chance for lottery players to potentially land the over half-billion-dollar Powerball jackpot will come later Saturday.
The up-for-grabs grand prize, for which Powerball will draw at 10:59 p.m. Eastern, had an annuitized pre-tax value of $535 million as of Friday, according to the lottery.
No jackpot winner from Wednesday’s drawing helped boost it $35 million to that level. Its value officially reached the halfway point to $1 billion ahead of that drawing.
AUSTIN, TEXAS - OCTOBER 10: A customer purchases a Powerball lottery ticket at the Brew Market & Cafe on October 10, 2023 in Austin, Texas. The Powerball jackpot has grown to over $1.7 billion, making it the second largest jackpot in history. (Ph (Brandon Bell/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Four smaller winners did arise out of the Wednesday drawing. Two people got $1 million from Match 5, and another two saw $2 million windfalls via the "Power Play(r) feature," Powerball said.
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The current size of the grand prize, worth $268.2 million as a one-time cash payout, has been increasing for over two months at this point.
Chances of Powerball players hitting the jackpot are 1-in-292.2-million, according to the lottery. The odds have been that way since 2015, when lottery officials rolled out an updated matrix.
Hawthorne, CA - October 10: Powerball play tickets on display at Blue Bird Liquor in Hawthorne, CA, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. The estimated jackpot for tonight's Powerball drawing is $1.73 Billion.(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Someone last hit the Powerball jackpot on Oct. 11, landing a whopping $1.765 billion. That grand prize was "the second-largest Powerball jackpot and U.S. lottery jackpot ever won," Powerball said at the time.
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The only other billion-dollar Powerball jackpot so far this year happened in July. That $1.08 billion windfall went to someone with a winning ticket in California, according to the lottery.
Three other jackets were $162.6 million, 252.6 million and $754.6 million, respectively.
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Last week, Mega Millions saw a pair of tickets match all the white balls and the single gold ball needed to win the then-$394 million jackpot. A Chevron gas station in Encino, California sold both of them, according to the lottery.
MIAMI, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 04: Forms to pick numbers for Powerball are on display in a store on October 04, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Wednesday's Powerball drawing will be an approximately $1.2 billion jackpot. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Powerball’s $1.765 billion windfall in October appeared to represent the largest jackpot of 2023.