Powerball jackpot hits staggering $1.5 billion after no one won $1.2 billion grand prize - CBS News

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No winning tickets were sold for Wednesday night's Powerball jackpot of $1.2 billion, truthful the apical prize for Saturday night's drafting volition beryllium $1.5 billion, Powerball officials said.

The winning numbers for Wednesday night's drafting were 02, 11, 22, 35, 60 and a Powerball of 23.

The jackpot grows after each drafting without a victor and present was approaching the grounds of $1.586 billion won by 3 Powerball players successful 2016. The second- and third-largest prizes were deed by players of the Mega Millions lottery game.

There person present been 39 consecutive draws without a jackpot victor since the past 1 was won connected Aug. 3.

"I deliberation it would beryllium adjacent to being a grounds if not a record," said Drew Svitko, the Pennsylvania Lottery's enforcement director. "The grounds of $1.586 cardinal that we had backmost successful 2016 is wrong reach, but it truly depends connected a mates factors."

The archetypal origin is the fig of tickets sold, and they are flying retired of lottery machines passim the country.

For the Monday nighttime drawing, determination were 131.6 cardinal Powerball plays sold, said Anna Domoto, a spokeswoman for the Multi-State Lottery Association, which oversees the game. That amounted to 36.3% of each imaginable fig combinations being covered, arsenic millions of players picked the aforesaid numbers.

That's a lot, but considering the likelihood of winning the jackpot are 1 successful 292.2 million, that means astir 186 cardinal fig combinations weren't covered, which is wherefore nary 1 won the expansive prize.

Although the absorption of the crippled is connected the $1.2 cardinal prize — that is the magnitude for an annuity, doled retired implicit 29 yearly payments — astir each winners take a currency prize, which would beryllium $596.7 million.

Still, the advertised prize is based connected the annuity, and that's wherever the 2nd origin successful determining the jackpot comes successful arsenic higher involvement rates origin annuities to turn much quickly. Put different way, the $596.7 cardinal successful currency is funneled into investments that volition yet wage retired $1.2 billion, and those investments turn faster arsenic involvement rates rise.

"We usage investments to money the annuity to wage that prize, truthful the investments trust connected involvement and the grade to which involvement rates effect the worth of those investments besides effect that jackpot," Svitko said.

For immoderate players, it's not astir the expansive prize.

"What's truthful amusive astir it?" Jeff Bennett asked Monday. "It's the imaginable for winning, not that you win. It's the imaginable — you're buying hope."

But adjacent with the monolithic jackpot, not everyone has caught Powerball fever.

"There's nary use," a antheral named Diego said. "I mean, you've got a amended accidental of getting struck by lightning than winning that lotto."

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