Oct. 2 (UPI) — The Powerball lottery will present its second billion-dollar jackpot of 2023 for Monday’s drawing, the fourth-highest total in the game’s history at $1.04 billion.
The jackpot continued to climb after no one matched the white ball numbers of 19, 30, 37, 44, 46, and red Powerball 22 in Saturday’s drawing.
Five tickets — two in Florida and one each in Maryland, Michigan and Pennsylvania — matched all the white numbers and earned at least $1 million. Single tickets in Indiana and North Carolina matched all five white balls and won $2 million in prizes by including the prize multiplier feature.
Saturday night marked 32 consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner since the last billion-dollar jackpot when a single ticket sold in California claimed a $1.08 billion prize.
If a player wins the jackpot on Monday night, they will have the choice of an annuitized prize worth an estimated $1.04 million or a lump sum cash payment of $478.2 million. If the winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% yearly. Both prize options are before taxes.
The current jackpot is still far from the Powerball record $2.04 billion, which was won less than a year ago on Nov. 7, 2022, by a ticket purchased in California. The second-highest jackpot was $1.586 billion, won by three tickets from California, Florida and Tennessee, on Jan. 13, 2016.
The jackpot of America’s other lottery, Mega Millions, rose to $300 million with a cash value of $137 million. Mega Millions will hold its drawing on Tuesday.
