Powerball jackpot hits $1.3 billion

Another ticket was worth $150,000, and 15 others were worth $50,000 each.

The largest jackpot ever won in Powerball was $590.5 million, when a single ticket purchased in Florida matched all six numbers on May 18, 2013. Amazingly, the store is less than a block away from a store that sold a $1 million winning ticket in the Virginia’s New Year’s Millionaire Raffle drawing on January 1.

Though no one won the jackpot prize of $900 million, 25 people won $1 million, three of them in NY.

Almost 500,000 Powerball lottery tickets purchased in Virginia won prizes in Saturday’s drawing – though not the now $1.3 billion jackpot.

Powerball is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

For more perspective, in just the six days, the Powerball jackpot has risen from $524 million to its current figure.

It’s because the jackpot is actually $806 million (before taxes) if the victor decides to take a lump sum payment. Before, the odds of winning were 1 in 175 and changed to 292.2 million as reported by CBS News. “I’m a lucky guy for real”, lottery player Eric Morgan said.

After no one won Saturday’s $947.9 million drawing, the jackpot passed the $1 billion dollar mark for the first time in United States history. On Friday, the sales went up to $37 million in tickets in California, officials expected to double it and succeeded by Saturday’s drawing.

The jackpot started at $40 million on November 4 and has been growing since then because there have been no big winners for the twice-weekly jackpots. If you’re eagerly waiting for the next set of numbers to come out on Wednesday night, below are some other Powerball numbers to keep in mind. And as more and more players daydream about what their riches could buy and load up on $2 tickets, the jackpot has soared even higher.

There were 28 people who had all five of the white balls that were picked in Saturday night’s historic drawing.

The jackpot will continue to grow until there is a victor.