Powerball Players Hope to Ring in New Year With $760M Jackpot

Posted on: December 29, 2023, 10:05h. 

Last updated on: December 29, 2023, 10:58h.

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

Powerball is going out in style this year, as the jackpot has climbed north of $700 million for a fourth time in 2023.

Powerball jackpot lottery
A lottery retailer in Boston advertises the Powerball jackpot for the game’s Saturday drawing on Dec. 30, 2023. The estimated $760 million jackpot is the sixth-largest in the game’s history. (Image: Boston Herald)

The Powerball jackpot hasn’t been won since the Oct. 11 drawing, when a single ticket sold in California won a $1.765 billion prize — the second-richest Powerball jackpot ever won and the second-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history.

It’s been 33 drawings since that win, and no ticket has matched all five white numbers and the red Powerball. Throngs of lottery dreamers will hope to end the jackpot-less streak when the game is next drawn on Saturday, Dec. 30, at 10:59 pm EST from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee.

If a ticket hits, the winner will have the choice of selecting the full amount of the jackpot paid out through a 30-year annuity, or taking a one-time cash option of an estimated $382.5 million. Both amounts are before federal and possibly state taxes.

The odds of a ticket matching the six winning numbers are just one in 292.2 million. But the odds of winning some sort of prize are one in 24.9, with the best odds being the ticket doubling its $2 purchase price.

The forecast $760 million jackpot represents Powerball’s sixth-largest prize ever offered.

Top 10 Powerball Jackpots

  1. $2.04 Billion — Nov. 7, 2022 — CA
  2. $1.765 Billion — Oct. 11, 2023 — CA
  3. $1.586 Billion — Jan. 13, 2016 — CA, FL, TN
  4. $1.08 Billion — July 19, 2023 — CA
  5. $768.4 Million — March 27, 2019 — WI
  6. $760 Million (est.) — Dec. 30, 2023
  7. $758.7 Million — Aug. 23, 2017 — MA
  8. $754.6 Million — Feb. 6, 2023 — WA
  9. $731.1 Million — Jan. 20, 2021 — MD
  10. $699.8 Million — Oct. 4, 2021 — CA

Powerball Roundup

Though no ticket hit the Powerball jackpot during the Wednesday drawing, two tickets matched the five white balls, but not the red Powerball, to win $1 million. One of those plays purchased the optional $1 add-on Power Play to double the prize to $2 million.

Another 34 tickets matched four of the five white balls and the Powerball to claim $50,000 each. Another eight hit the same configuration with the Power Play to triple their payouts to $150,000 after the Power Play landed on 3x. Powerball’s second-best prize of $1 million can only be doubled regardless of the Power Play outcome.

In total, 1,632,024 tickets won some sort of prize on Wednesday night. The bulk of the wins — 1,293,296 — were $4 payouts.

Redemption Clock Ticking

In Pennsylvania, lottery officials say the clock is ticking on the redemption period for a $1 million Powerball prize.

A statement this week from the Pennsylvania Lottery says the ticket was sold for the Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, drawing at a gas station located at 199 W. Germantown Pike in Plymouth Meeting. Powerball winners in Pennsylvania have up to a year to redeem their prizes.

By law, if the prize isn’t claimed, the prize will go to the state’s Lottery Fund, which supports older Pennsylvanians with property tax and rent rebates, transportation, care services, prescription assistance, and meals.