No Powerball winner, jackpot swells to $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.

The U.S. saw sales of $277 million on Friday alone and more than $400 million were expected Saturday, according to Gary Grief, the executive director of the Texas Lottery. No ticket matched all six numbers to claim the $949.8 million jackpot, boosting Wednesday’s jackpot to a whopping $1.3 billion.

A sign shows the estimated jackpot for this Saturday’s Powerball lottery at the CA lotto store in San Bernardino County, California, on the California-Nevada state line January 9, 2016. “This Powerball jackpot is not only a life-changing opportunity for any person, but also it has allowed the Lottery to generate over $40 million in revenue for Florida students and schools”.

Powerball ticket sales were so brisk that many retailers were running out of paper to print the tickets on. The estimated jackpot is reportedly just over $900 million and the winning numbers were announced at 10:59 EST.

The grand prize for Powerball has climbed steadily for weeks after repeated drawings produced no big winners.

That’s only $100 million away from $1 billion. All six numbers must be correct to win, although the first five can be in any order.

Saturday’s almost $950 million jackpot already was the largest in US history, but after Saturday night’s rollover, Wednesday’s drawing will be worth $1.3 billion, said Texas Lottery official Kelly Cripe.

November was the last time a jackpot victor emerged from Powerball, which is run by the Multi-State Lottery Association. By making it harder to win a jackpot, the tougher odds made the ever-larger prizes inevitable. 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.

Sonja Peterson of Minneapolis said she never buys Powerball tickets, but on Saturday, she bought two with random numbers at Bobby & Steve’s Auto World gas station – one for her, one for her boyfriend.

That percentage could rise if the jackpot estimate is increased before the drawing.

Players in Lincoln, Nebraska, said they don’t expect to win, but most noted that eventually, someone will take home all that money. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.

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