LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The Powerball jackpot is getting even bigger.
The Powerball jackpot is up to $620 million for Saturday's drawing after nobody took home the grand prize Wednesday. It comes with a cash option of $210.8 million.
But that isn't to say there weren't winners last night. In fact, five people became millionaires, including someone in Colorado.
Winning Powerball tickets worth $2 million were sold in Colorado, Kentucky, and Virginia after they selected the more expensive Power Play option. Tickets in Kentucky and Rhode Island won $1 million dollars for matching all five regular numbers.
The lottery game hasn't seen a jackpot winner since Oct. 11, when a single ticket in California took home the $1.76 billion prize.
The prize is now the fourth Powerball jackpot to topple the half-a-billion dollar mark this year.
What were the winning Powerball numbers for Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023?
The winning numbers are 27-35-41-56-60, Powerball: 16 and Power Play: 2.
If a winner matches all five numbers and the Powerball, they have the option to take the full jackpot paid out over 30 years, or a smaller cash payout. Winners almost always take the cash option, which for Monday would have been $272.2 million.
The streak without a jackpot winner is due to the game's long odds, 1 in 292.2 million, that are designed to make winning rare so grand prizes can grow large.
Even with the smaller lump sum payout, federal taxes will eat into those winnings, and some states also tax big lottery prizes. Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
When is the Powerball drawing?
The Powerball drawing takes place live at 10:59 p.m. Eastern every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Tickets, which cost $2 per play, are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
What are my chances of winning the Powerball?
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are one in 292.2 million.
Over the past few years, huge lottery jackpots have become more common as lottery officials have changed the rules and ticket prices to boost top prizes.
Powerball's biggest change came in 2021 when officials decided to add a Monday drawing to its weekly lineup of Wednesday and Saturday evening drawings. At the time of the announcement, Powerball proclaimed the addition of the Monday drawing would lead to "larger, faster-growing jackpots."
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