Powerball jackpot climbs to $935M after no one matched six numbers in Wednesday night's draw

• Nearly $1bn will now be up for grabs for a lucky winner in Saturday’s draw 

Powerball players still have a chance to become eye-wateringly rich after nobody matched all six numbers in Wednesday night’s draw.

Nobody was able to claim the magic numbers 37, 46, 57, 60, 66 and the Powerball 8, pushing the jackpot up to a staggering $935m.

The powerball has not been hit since January 1, meaning there have now been 36 consecutive drawings without wins.

But on Monday people in Florida and New York had some better luck, collecting $1mn for matching the white balls with winning numbers 7, 11, 19, 53, 63 and a powerball of 23.

And on Tuesday night, one lucky winner collected a colossal $1.13b Mega Millions Prize after 30 straight drawings without a winner.

The powerball has not been hit since January 1, meaning there have now been 36 consecutive drawings without wins

The Powerball jackpot has been growing for months since the last winner on New Year’s Day.

There now have been 37 consecutive drawings without anyone hitting the top prize.

READ MORE: Winners of Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots opting for the lump sum will get a lot less (especially in some states) 

The game’s odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to create big jackpots that will grab attention and increase sales.

Comparatively, the National Weather Service puts the odds of getting hit by lightning at 1 in 15,300. The odds of getting bitten by a shark are 1 in 3.7 million.

The $935 million prize for the next drawing Saturday night is for a sole winner who is paid over 30 years through an annuity.

Winners usually opt for a cash payout, which for the next drawing would be an estimated $449.7 million.

The giant jackpot would also be subject to federal taxes, and some states also tax lottery winnings.

Similarly, the winner of Tuesday night’s Mega Millions will likely only come away with about a quarter of the $1.13b prize advertised on billboards.

That’s because if they accept their prize as a lump sum, as almost all do, they would receive $540 million. After taxes are deducted they’d then be left with $280 million.

The headline-grabbing jackpot amount advertised in stores, gas stations and roadside billboards is not actually the amount lottery organizers have in the prize pool.

The $1.13b figure refers to the sum it would hold if invested into Treasury bonds.

The figure is higher when interest rates rise, as they have currently.

But that means lottery jackpots are now more inflated than ever – and winners will be penalized more than they have been for two decades if they choose to accept their winnings as a lump sum.

if the winner were to opt for the 30-year annuity, they could avoid paying state income tax on the next 29 years if they moved to a place like Texas, Florida, Nevada or Alaska.

Andrew Stoltmann, a Chicago-based lawyer, advised winners should almost always resist.

An electronic billboard advertises the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots, March 25, 2024, in in Des Moines, Iowa

Lottery ticket signs advertising the Mega Millions and Powerball games can be seen in Washington, US, July 17, 2023

Regardless of where the winnings are claimed, federal taxes will always be due – accounting for 37 per cent of the prize.

Winnings are taxed 24 per cent up front, but rise when the winner is likely pushed up into the top tax bracket.

The Mega Millions jackpot had been growing since early December after going three months without a winner.

After a run of 30 drawings without a jackpot winner, a ticket matching all five numbers plus the mega ball was sold in Bayonne, New Jersey.

Powerball is played in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 Biggest jackpots in US history

1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 2022 (one ticket, in California)

2. $1.765 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023 (one ticket, from California)

3. $1.602 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023 (one ticket, from Florida)

4. $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)

5. $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)

6. $1.348 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)

7. $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)

8. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023 (one ticket, from California)

9. $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)

10. $842.4 million Powerball, Jan. 1, 2024 (one ticket, from Michigan)

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