The Powerball jackpot swelled to an estimated $1.55 billion for Monday night's drawing after weeks with no grand prize winner.
The new mammoth prize up for grabs Monday ranks as the third largest Powerball jackpot and fourth largest among US lottery jackpots, according to Powerball's website.
If a lucky player matches all six numbers to win the jackpot, they will have the choice between an annuitized prize worth an estimated $1.55 billion or a lump sum payment estimated at $679.8 million -- both before taxes, Powerball said.
The grand prize grew Saturday after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn, 47, 54, 57, 60, 65 and red Powerball 19.
There have been no Powerball jackpot winners since July 19, when a single ticket sold in California nabbed a grand prize worth $1.08 billion.
The upcoming drawing will be the 35th in this jackpot run. It's the first time in Powerball's history that back-to-back cycles have generated billion-dollar grand prizes, Powerball said in a news release.
While no one scored the jackpot during the last drawing Saturday, there were still some big wins.
Ten tickets matched five numbers to win $1 million prizes in California, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin.
Another two tickets, sold in Iowa and Maine, matched all five white balls and won $2 million each because their holders activated a "power play" multiplier, Powerball said.
Overall, the odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. But the odds of winning the jackpot are much slimmer, at 1 in 292.2 million, Powerball says.
The largest Powerball Jackpot ever won was a $2.04 billion prize from November 2022, followed by a $1.586 billion jackpot won in January 2016.
