Late last month, one incredibly fortunate player hit the Powerball jackpot. The player from Georgia made history by winning the staggering $478.2 million grand prize at the time. Since then, the Powerball jackpot has been gradually growing.
The Jackpot, Estimated at $54M or $26M Cash Option
On Wednesday, many players tried their luck for a $39 million jackpot or $18.7 million in cash value. Regretfully, nobody matched correctly the winning white balls 13, 22, 29, 43, 58 and the red Powerball 22 from the October 30 drawing.
Now, the grand prize continues to increase, surpassing $50 million. With the next drawing of the popular lottery game scheduled for Saturday, November 2, 2024, the grand prize is estimated at a whopping $54 million.
Not unexpectedly, there is a cash option and if a player scores the jackpot on Saturday, they would be looking at a prize of $25.8 million, a sum far from the mind-blowing $54 million but enough to completely change the life of everyone. While lower than the full jackpot, the cash option is preferred by nearly all lottery players as they instantly receive cash and don’t have to collect the prize via installments over the next 20 years.
To win the recent mind-blowing jackpot, the lucky ticket holder in Georgia beat the odds of 1 in 292.2 million. The odds for Powerball are always the same, regardless of the size of the prize and how many players participate.
Lottery Players Win Prizes Within the Game’s Different Prize Tiers
While the jackpot certainly attracts some lottery players, the game offers more prizes within its different prize tiers. On Wednesday’s drawing, one player from California matched all white balls for a $1 million prize. An extra $1 for the Power Play would’ve granted the same player a $2 million prize, considering the Power Play multiplier of x2.
Four other players also collected hefty prizes from the recent Powerball drawing. One lucky lottery player hit a $150,000 Power Play prize for matching four white balls and the red Powerball. Three others who matched the same number of winning balls secured the standard $50,000 prize each.
The latest drawing saw more than 184,000 players win the lowest prize of $4 each. While close to 16,000 won $7 each, some 72,642 lucky players scored a $12 prize each.
