No Powerball winner, so jackpot may grow to $1.3 billion

Come on, you’ve at least considered it. You know what you’d buy with that sweet $1.3 billion Powerball money if you won.

Now lottery officials estimate the jackpot is already at $1.3 billion ahead of the next drawing on Wednesday night.

Both games are organized by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), a non-profit group owned by lotteries from 34 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

And don’t forget that even if you buy a ticket for every combination, someone else could also have the same numbers and you’d have to split the jackpot.

“All it takes is one ticket to win this prize”.

“We urge all our players to check their tickets and, of course, we have plenty of champagne on ice ready to welcome these winners into the National Lottery millionaires club”. The ticket hit on five numbers, but not the Powerball.

“A lottery official called us at seven in the morning to tell us”, manager Sarbjit Singh told the Daily News. Tickets in 13 other states matched five numbers, while tickets told in CT and Texas matched five numbers with the Powerplay, each worth $2 million.

Camelot said it expected to have sold at least 400 tickets per second, online and by retailers, in the final hours before sales stopped at 7.30pm on Saturday.

No one has drawn all six numbers correctly since before the November 4th drawing when the game restarted with a $40 million jackpot.

However, those winnings were distributed to thousands of people and the top prize was halted at about $4.36 million (4 million euros). The estimated cash value now sits at $806 million. “Let’s buy some tickets today,”‘ Peterson said. By Saturday, when the pot topped $800 million, it was full-frenzy time, with $18,000 worth of Powerball tickets alone sold at the store in one day.

Texas Lottery’s executive director trumpeted the big jackpot over the weekend, but urged those hoping to hit it big not to spend more than they can afford.

Watch Powerball drawings Wednesday and Saturday nights on WBAL-TV 11.