Powerball jackpot grows to $441M after no top winner in Monday drawing
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Powerball jackpot has soared to an estimated $441 million after no lucky winner claimed Monday night’s drawing.
The winner, who must match numbers on five white balls (1-69) and the red Powerball (1-26), also has the option to claim a one-time lump sum payment of an estimated $317.5 million before taxes.
The next drawing will be held at 10:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 29.
The Powerball jackpot grows until a winning ticket is sold. Winners can choose to receive their prize as an annuity, paid in 30 payments over 29 years, or take the lump sum payment. Federal and jurisdictional taxes are applicable to either payout.
The winning numbers for Monday night’s drawing were 36, 38, 45, 62, 64 and the Powerball 19. The Power Play was 2X.
While no one won the grand prize, one person in Florida matched five balls — which is a $1 million prize, according to lottery officials. Two others, located in Florida and New Jersey, matched those numbers plus the power play number, which is a $2 million prize.
The overall odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are just 1 in 292.2 million. To put that into perspective, those odds are a little worse than flipping a coin and getting heads 28 straight times, University of Nebraska-Omaha mathematics professor Andrew Swift previously told the Associated Press.
For those feeling lucky and wanting to spend $2 for a ticket, the overall odds of winning any prize is a little better at 1 in 24.9.
FILE - A person holds a Powerball ticket at the Shell Gateway store on March 26, 2019, in Boynton Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The current estimated prize is far from the U.S. jackpot record, which was a whopping $1.586 billion Powerball prize in 2016. Three winning tickets were sold in California, Florida and Tennessee.
Powerball drawings are held on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday in 45 states, Washington D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
There have been several lottery winners whose stories made news headlines, including a couple in England who won just days before their teenage son was declared cancer-free.
But for those who do get lucky, make sure to double-check the winnings before making any drastic moves. A Spanish television reporter in 2019 appeared to quit her job live on air after getting a winning lottery ticket but later discovered her payout was only about $5,500.
This story was reported from Cincinnati.