U.S. Powerball jackpot rises to $650 million

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By BNO NEWS

The jackpot for Wednesday’s Powerball drawing in the United States has jumped to $650 million, making it the world’s fourth-largest prize on record, lottery officials say. No one won the jackpot on Saturday.

The official Powerball website showed on early Sunday morning that the estimated jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing stood at $650 million, though it’s certain to rise in the next few days. The cash value for Wednesday’s drawing stands at $411.7 million.

Lottery fever had already begun to set in after the jackpot for Saturday’s drawing surpassed half a billion dollars, but no one won the big prize. The winning numbers for Saturday’s drawing were 17-19-39-43-68 and Powerball 13.

One ticket which was sold in Iowa came close to winning the jackpot: it matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball, earning him or her a $50,000 prize. Iowa reported $2.7 million in lottery sales for Saturday’s drawing, including $1.4 million on Saturday alone.

Powerball tickets are sold in 44 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The jackpot is paid out in 30 payments over a period of 29 years, but winners can also choose for a small prize – the cash value – which is paid out right away.

The odds of winning the jackpot in the Powerball lottery are about 1 in 292.2 million because there are about 292.2 million ways in which players can combine the game’s numbers. About 32 percent of all the possible combinations were purchased for Saturday’s drawing.

With the annuity prize now at $650 million, it makes it the fourth-highest jackpot ever in the world. The highest ever jackpot was a $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot in January 2016, followed by a $940 million (720 million euro) Spanish Christmas Lottery jackpot in December 2011.

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