Powerball New Year’s Day Jackpot Estimated $500M, First Millionaire Draw Live Tonight

Posted on: December 31, 2021, 08:08h. 

Last updated on: December 31, 2021, 08:39h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The Powerball jackpot for the January 1 draw is an estimated $500 million, the largest lottery prize to kick off a new year in the history of the United States.

Powerball jackpot lottery odds
Powerball will hold a special $1 million draw during ABC’s New Year’s Eve broadcast coverage. The popular US lottery game will then hold a $500 million jackpot draw around 11 pm ET on January 1, 2022. (Image: Powerball)

Ticket sales, Powerball officials say, have been sturdy throughout the holidays.

Ticket sales have been strong through the holidays, and we anticipate the majority of ticket purchases for the next drawing will happen on New Year’s Day,” said May Scheve Reardon, chair of the Powerball Product Group and executive director of the Missouri Lottery. “A jackpot of this size is great way to start the New Year.”

No Powerball ticket has matched all six numbers since the October 4 draw, when a single ticket in California won $699.8 million. That jackpot was the fifth-largest in Powerball history and the seventh-largest in US history.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are a dismal one in 292.2 million.

New Year’s Excitement

The past two years have been unimaginably difficult for most Americans, and many are ready to ring in the new year with hopes of a better 2022. Winning a more than half of a billion-dollar lottery jackpot would certainly help.

The regularly scheduled Powerball draw at 10:59 pm ET tomorrow will actually be the second Powerball draw of the day.

Powerball will again hold its special “Powerball First Millionaire the Year” draw just shortly midnight during ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2022. The $1 million prize will be awarded to one of five finalists who entered the promotion through their local lotteries.

The Powerball jackpot was hit just six times in 2021.

2021 Powerball Jackpots

January 20 — $731.1 million — MD

January 23 — $23.2 million — NJ

January 30 — $33.2 million — NJ

March 27 — $235.4 million — FL

June 5 — $285.6 million — FL

October 4 — $699.8 million — CA

January 1 Jackpot Breakdown

If a single ticket wins tomorrow’s Powerball jackpot, the lucky winner will have the option of collecting the $500 million through a 30-year annuity, or take a one-time lump sum cash option of $355.9 million.

Most jackpot winners opt for the cash payment. In this case, the $355.9 million would be reduced to $224.25 million after the 37 percent effective federal tax of $131.64 million is subtracted.

The remaining $224.25 million is then subject to state taxes, and they differ greatly.

California, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming are the best places to win a large lottery prize, as those eight states do not tax lottery prizes. The worst state to win Powerball or Mega Millions is New York, which subjects lottery prize winnings to an effective tax rate of 10.9 percent — the highest in the US.

The average state tax among those that do tax lottery winnings is around five percent. On $224.25 million, the one-time lump sum boils down to roughly $206.5 million after the feds and state governments get their hands out of the lottery jar.