No Powerball winner, jackpot may reach $1.3 billion

With ticket sales doubling previous records, the odds are growing that someone will win Saturday’s record jackpot, but if no one wins the top prize, next week’s drawing is expected to soar past $1 billion. Meanwhile, players in 14 states won $1 million each.

Saturday was a spastic day for Powerball ticket buyers as the largest lottery prize in United States history reached almost a Billion dollars.

Saturday’s Powerball drawing swelled to $900 million after no one won the $500 million jackpot earlier in the week.

The numbers from Saturday’s drawing were: 16, 19, 32, 34, 57 and the Powerball 13. Sales for Saturday night’s drawing had been robust, with people in 44 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico all getting into the mix.

Since November 4, the Powerball jackpot has grown from its $40 million starting point as no one has won the jackpot.

That’s only $50 million away from $1 billion.

The tougher odds made the ever-larger prizes inevitable.

One hopeful thought: Scott A. Norris, an assistant professor of mathematics at Southern Methodist University, says your tiny odds improve a bit if you let the computer pick your numbers rather than choosing yourself.

Maryland Lottery officials say there was one ticket sold in Worcester County that matched five of the winning numbers, and is worth $1-million.

There are 292.2 million possible combinations of the five white balls and red Powerball. California, the nation’s most populous state, normally sees Powerball sales of $1 million a day, but on Saturday morning sales were a head-spinning $2.8 million an hour, said California Lottery spokesman Mike Bond.

“The excitement is growing tremendously statewide and across the nation for this historic jackpot on Saturday night”, said Florida Lottery Secretary Tom Delacenserie.

Players in Lincoln, Nebraska, said they don’t expect to win, but most noted that eventually, someone will take home all that money. Hundreds of thousands of people have been sending out tweets about their losing tickets and are anxious to find out if the jackpot will continue to rise for the next drawing on January 13. According to a lottery spokesperson, stores across the country were running out of paper tickets to print for those that bought them. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.