The Powerball jackpot prize could climb up from $949.8 million to $1.3 billion since no ticket matched Saturday night’s Powerball winning combination.
Powerball jackpot, at more than $1.3 billion, pushes into record territory https://t.co/9uV4nzVNNm pic.twitter.com/7nI1P4iwC3
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) January 11, 2016
The prize is estimated to reach more than a billion dollars by the next draw scheduled on Wednesday. Ever since the rules were modified last year, winning the prize has become even more difficult.
The chances of winning the Powerball jackpot are so slim – 1 in 292 million people from a previous 1 in 175 millionpeople – that the probability of getting killed by an asteroid or getting struck by lightning is said to be higher than picking the right combination.
Planning on banking in on the #Powerball? You have a better chance of being killed by an asteroid (ouch)! pic.twitter.com/xdRQfJBk2K
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) January 8, 2016
Even so, tickets were reportedly sold as fast as 25,000 per minute in Texas.
Saturday’s winning numbers were 16, 19, 32, 34, 57, and Powerball number 13. The ticket holder must get all the numbers correctly to hit the jackpot prize. The first five digits can go in any order but the sixth must match the Powerball jackpot number.
Check Out the Powerball Jackpot Numbers Worth $950 Million
“At our peak last night, we were selling more than $1.2 million in Powerball tickets every single minute,” Texas Lottery executive director Gary Grief revealed.
Grief also told ABC News that 25 players had each won a $1 million dollar prize and three others got to take home a $2 million prize on Saturday’s draw.
The estimated $1.3 billion prize would be twice as huge as the previous biggest U.S. lottery prize paid by Mega Millions in March 2012, in which three lottery hopefuls shared a $656 million grand prize.
This week’s #Powerball jackpot is the largest in U.S. history. But is it a mistake to play? https://t.co/dsoz0BppQS pic.twitter.com/fpHpsA1skN
— CNN (@CNN) January 11, 2016
This coming Wednesday’s jackpot would also be more than double the $590.5 million pot money that Powerball gave away in May 2013 for one lucky ticket holder in Florida.
An estimated cash value of $806 million dollars is due to be given away on Wednesday. The $1.3 billion imbursement will only materialize if the Powerball jackpot winner chooses to receive staggered payments.