The Powerball jackpot has already ballooned to more than a half billion after the magic numbers went unpicked on Wednesday, meaning it will easily be $600 million as people pick their numbers for Saturday’s drawing -- as a total eclipse of the sun looms! Not that it would affect anything.
Tickets sales have roared in the past once such gargantuan figures like Thursday's $510 million were reached in either of the country's two multi-state lotteries. There even was a rare twin appearance until someone hit Mega Millions for $393 million last Friday.
The numbers in the Powerball drawing on Wednesday were 9, 15, 43, 60, 64, and the Powerball 4, USA Today reported.
According to the Powerball website, the one-time cash payout on Thursday for the jackpot now would be $324.2 million. Only the stars (and maybe the IRS) know what it will be for Saturday's drawing.
There has not been a Powerball jackpot winner since Mai Xiong won $156.2 million in Wisconsin on March 22. Xiong opted to take the lump sum payout of $93.1 million, according to the Powerball website.
The largest jackpot won in the state was $208.8 million in August of 2006, won by a group of 100 peole calling themselves the Miracle 100, noted Powerball.
Last Friday, Mega Millions had a winning ticket sold in Illinois worth an estimated $393 million. The winner, who has not come forward yet, per the Mega Millions website, could also accept the lump sum cash payout of $247.3 million.
That was the fifth winning jackpot in the history of Mega Millions history, which started on April 28 and rolled 30 times before the winning numbers were picked – 23, 33, 53, 56 and 58, plus the Mega Ball 6.
Before last week's winner, David Trapp, of Laguna Hills, California was the last recipient of a Mega Millions lottery jackpot, $61 million, the lottery's website said.
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