Powerball continues its upward climb, with a jackpot worth nearly half a billion dollars on the line for Saturday’s drawing.
It’s the fifth largest jackpot in the history of the game and the eighth largest ever in North America, according to Kansas Lottery officials.
Anyone who matches all numbers will win or share a jackpot worth an estimated $478 million with a cash option of $330.6 million.
If a Kansas player hits the jackpot and has the only jackpot-winning ticket, he or she would choose between an annuity paid out over 29 years, or a cash lump sum. A Kansas winner choosing the cash option would receive a payment of approximately $231.42 million, after taxes. Federal taxes on the prize would be about $82.65 million and state taxes would be approximately $16.53 million.
Saturday night’s drawing will be the 24th Powerball drawing without a jackpot winner. The Powerball jackpot was last hit May 7 in New Jersey. While the chance of winning a Powerball jackpot is 1 in 292.2 million, players have much better odds, about 1 in 25, of winning smaller prizes ranging from $4 to $2 million.
Players should always be sure to check their tickets after each drawing. One ticket sold in northeast Kansas for the July 27 drawing matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball to win $50,000. There were 13,508 winning Powerball tickets in Kansas worth a total of $114,429 in the July 27 drawing. The winning numbers in the drawing were 10-47-50-65-68 PB 24.
Over the years, Kansas players have captured 11 Powerball jackpots, 8 Lotto America jackpots, 1 Mega Millions jackpot and 7 Hot Lotto jackpots. Seventeen Kansas players have matched the first five numbers in Powerball or Mega Millions to win $1 million or $2 million prizes.
The Kansas Lottery reminded players to play responsibly – it only takes one to win.