Cash value is a half-billion dollars
By Todd Northrop
This is the lottery jackpot every lottery player has been waiting for!
Reaching into uncharted stratospheric heights, the Saturday Powerball jackpot is by far the largest lottery jackpot the world has ever seen, and is now also the largest lump-sum cash jackpot in world history.
Just a day after the jackpot was raised to $700 million, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) has once again raised the official Powerball jackpot estimate for the Sat., Jan. 9, drawing to $800 million, with a lump-sum cash payout of $496 million.
And it may not stop there.
Players should watch for further jackpot increases before the Saturday drawing. Long lines of ticket buyers across the nation are generating lottery ticket sales at unprecedented levels. Players should avoid waiting until the last minute to buy their their tickets.
"Saturday's jackpot will be the largest jackpot of any U.S. lottery game on record. This is truly exciting and uncharted territory," said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery and chair of the Powerball game group. "We want to remind players to play responsibly and that it only takes one ticket to win."
Saturday's jackpot started at $40 million on Nov. 7, 2015, and is the result of 18 drawings with no jackpot winner.
When nobody won the jackpot on Wednesday night, the initial estimate for Saturday's drawing was established at $675 million, setting the world record for a lottery jackpot. Less than 12 hours later, that estimate was raised to $700 million. And now, less than 24 hours after the last increase, MUSL has again raised the official estimate to $800 million.
The final jackpot tally will be announced during the live draw show on Saturday night, although it's still possible the official estimate will be increased again before then.
"This historic Powerball run has players across the country excited to join the fun, driving sales and the jackpot upward, all of which is a tremendous boost for the education programs funded by the Lottery," said Rebecca Hargrove, President and CEO of the Tennessee Lottery.
Although some lottery players (and some in the news media) believe Spain's El Gordo carries the largest lottery jackpot in the world, this is not the case. El Gordo, despite being termed a "lottery" is actually a raffle-style game, and the top prize is always divided between hundreds of winners. It is like a lottery scratch game in which is the total available prize pool of up to hundreds of millions of dollars is split between thousands of winners, and is not considered a "jackpot".
A jackpot is a large cash prize that accumulates until it is won, whereas a prize pool is the total value awarded to all players of a game. Thus, Powerball has the largest jackpot in world history, while El Gordo has the largest prize pool. Some may believe this is splitting hairs, but in the lottery industry it is an important distinction, and unfortunately one that the mainstream news media cares little to differentiate.
Powerball jackpots start at $40 million and roll until the jackpot is won. Players win the jackpot by matching five numbers from a field of 69 numbers and one Powerball number from a field of 26 numbers. Drawings are conducted each Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 pm Eastern Time.
Powerball lottery results are published within minutes of the drawing at USA Mega (www.usamega.com). The USA Mega Web site provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States's two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.
Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time
Saturday's Powerball jackpot currently stands as the largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States — and in the world. The amount of the jackpot may rise even further before the drawing Saturday night, as lotteries are typically conservative in their initial estimates, and brisk sales will certainly continue to push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.
If nobody wins Saturday... well, let's not even go there.
- Powerball: $800 million, Jan. 9, 2016 - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Mega Millions: $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013 - California, Georgia
- Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 - Florida
- Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
- Powerball: $425.3 million, Feb. 19, 2014 - California
- Mega Millions: $414 million, Mar. 18, 2014 - Florida, Maryland
- Powerball: $399.4 million, Sep. 18, 2013 - South Carolina
- Mega Millions: $390 million, Mar. 6, 2007 - Georgia, New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $380 million, Jan. 4, 2011 - Idaho, Washington
- Powerball: $365 million, Feb. 18, 2006 - Nebraska
- The Big Game: $363 million, May 9, 2000 - Illinois, Michigan
- Powerball: $340 million, Oct. 19, 2005 - Oregon
- Powerball: $338.3 million, Mar. 23, 2013 - New Jersey
- Powerball: $337 million, Aug. 15, 2012 - Michigan
- Powerball: $336.4 million, Feb. 11, 2012 - Rhode Island
- Mega Millions: $336 million, Aug. 28, 2009 - California, New York
- The Big Game: $331 million, Apr. 16, 2002 - Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $330 million, Aug. 31, 2007 - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
- Mega Millions: $326 million, Nov. 4, 2014 - New York
- Mega Millions: $319 million, Mar. 25, 2011 - New York
- Mega Millions: $315 million, Nov. 15, 2005 - California
- Powerball: $314.9 million, Dec. 25, 2002 - West Virginia
For those keeping score, the number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 13
- Mega Millions: 10
- The Big Game: 2
The Big Game is the original name of Mega Millions, from the game's first drawing on Sep. 6, 1996 through May 14, 2002. The name was changed to Mega Millions starting with the May 17, 2002 drawing.
Top 25 cash value jackpots
Since many lottery winners collect their winnings in cash, the lump-sum payout is an important measure of what a winning ticket could be worth.
The new Powerball jackpot ranks as the largest lump-sum cash value jackpot in history.
- Powerball: $496 million cash, Jan. 9, 2016 ($800 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
- Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($648 million annuity) - California, Georgia
- Powerball: $258.2 million cash, Aug. 7, 2013 ($448.4 million annuity) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
- Mega Millions: $240 million cash, Jan. 4, 2011 ($380 million annuity) - Idaho, Washington
- Mega Millions: $233.1 million cash, Mar. 6, 2007 ($390 million annuity) - Georgia, New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $230.9 million cash, Mar. 18, 2014 ($414 million annuity) - Florida, Maryland
- Powerball: $227.8 million cash, Feb. 19, 2014 ($425.3 million annuity) - California
- Powerball: $224.7 million cash, Aug. 15, 2012 ($337 million annuity) - Michigan
- Powerball: $223.3 million cash, Sep. 18, 2013 ($399.4 million annuity) - South Carolina
- Mega Millions: $214 million cash, Aug. 28, 2009 ($336 million annuity) - California, New York
- Powerball: $211 million cash, Mar. 23, 2013 ($338.3 million annuity) - New Jersey
- Powerball: $210 million cash, Feb. 11, 2012 ($336.4 million annuity) - Rhode Island
- Mega Millions: $202.9 million cash, Mar. 25, 2011 ($319 million annuity) - New York
- Mega Millions: $197.5 million cash, Nov. 4, 2014 ($326 million annuity) - New York
- Powerball: $197.4 million cash, Sep. 30, 2015 ($310.5 million annuity) - Michigan
- Mega Millions: $194.4 million cash, Aug. 31, 2007 ($330 million annuity) - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
- Mega Millions: $185 million cash, Nov. 15, 2005 ($315 million annuity) - California
- The Big Game: $180 million cash, May 9, 2000 ($363 million annuity) - Illinois, Michigan
- Mega Millions: $177.3 million cash, Jan. 16, 2015 ($270 million annuity) - Illinois
- Powerball: $177.3 million cash, Feb. 18, 2006 ($365 million annuity) - Nebraska
- Powerball: $170.5 million cash, Dec. 25, 2002 ($314.9 million annuity) - West Virginia
The number of jackpot cash values in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 13
- Mega Millions: 11
- The Big Game: 1
Magnificent.
Omg that's insane! I'm in for 50 tickets, work pool and yes we have document info and copies.
I said before: if this Powerball 3 day run has the same level of sales as the old world record Mega Millions had in 1 draw (the $656 million jackpot) We will be around:
531,900,000 cash
869,100,000 annunity
Seeing as it's very possible, we will reach that level of sales. How much higher it would go past that is anyone's guess.
Yesssssssssssssssss 800 million
It's all speculation but if it's increased $100M in the last day, $1B should easily be met with essentially 2 days left. The momentum is only building faster. It's like a stock going parabolic.
$800 Million That's great!
"Anybody that wants to get mellow they can turn around and get the &^%*&^ out of here"
Ted Nugent
Wow..Holy cow , thats alot of money..Would it be right to say it's going to be 900 Million on Saturday ???
Todd we have not reached the worlds largest jackpot yet
Spain's Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad (Spanish Christmas Lottery) is generally considered to be the world's largest lottery with the largest first prize/jackpot. In 2012, the first prize was €720 million (US$941.8 million). The total prize pool in 2012 was €2.52 billion (US$3.297 billion).
$900M for sure. This is ahead of my projections from earlier this week. Definitely will approach the billion dollar mark.
the lotter down for "maintenance".
Probably too much traffic!
You did not read the article. You really should, because you are incorrect.
That article you linked even contains information that contradicts what you said:
As measured by the total prize payout, the Spanish Christmas Lottery is considered the biggest lottery worldwide.
"Total prize payout" is a prize pool, not a jackpot. Even the top prize in El Gordo is a prize pool split by hundreds of people, not a jackpot. And although El Gordo is commonly referred to as a "lottery", it is actually a raffle.
This is crazy! Good luck to everyone playing.
I also noticed the CV has now dropped to 62% of the annuity. Last time I checked it was more like 64%+
One winner
One ticket
Good Chance it'll go to: $1,000,000,000...
It's actually went back up slightly from the 61.2 it was at for the 1-6 drawing.
C'mon, stop the tease. Just jack the JP up to one billy and get it over with.
WOW!!!!! $800 Million
I hope at this rate there are a few winners splitting the pot. One winner would be insane.
I also hope people aren't draining bank accts, life savings or spending money they shouldn't
spend..the odds are horrible but someone will win. For the sake of those already in too deep,
I hope it goes Saturday.
Gl everyone. I will be getting 5 tickets at different places with pp.
Bought two lines today ,, Thinking of spending $10 on an additional ticket tommorrow morning on way from work
Wont win but you cant win if you dont play and $4-14 isn't going to kill me
This is insane!!! Good luck everyone!!!
Yeah you know there are people out there dropping $1,000, $5,000, or even $10,000 on this drawing and they will likely not win.
I bought $16 worth and that was the most I was willing to spend. I did 5 QP and I wanted to make sure to play trends for 3 tickets. Back to back number pairs will be picked, guaranteed.
I hope you are all playing trends too & good luck!
I totally underestimated this jackpot. I had thought it would have capped out 125 million or so ago. Not only is the prize insane, but the attention on the winner(s) will be a total zoo!
I agree. I think we are overdue for a repeat hit. This lottery averages .4 repeaters per drawing and has gone 18 consecutive drawings without a repeat hit!!
Wow, there are even line ups at Chinese restaurants. This is crazy!
There's obviously a better chance than ever before, but I'll still be surprised if it gets there without a roll.
MUSL obviously couldn't be sure ahead of time how big sales would be, because we're in unknown territory and because the hysteria that drives huge sales has diminished over the last few years. Neither of those invalidates all of the other data they have for making their estimates. I don't know how the pattern of sales varies from one drawing to the next, but MUSL knows. They know that if sales through noon on Thursday for a typical jackpot are $X then total sales by Saturday night will be in some range that's close to $Y. At noon on Friday they've got a bigger portion of sales to use for projection, so the range for Y gets smaller.
I'd guess the only thing they're at all fuzzy on at this point is how many last minute impulse plays there will be. Some people who rarely play or never play will decide at the last minute, and some regular players will decide to buy some more tickets. Even for that they've got enough data to make an educated guess.
I'm sure they're playing things fairly conservatively, so at this point I'd be surprised if it doesn't at least reach 850, and I won't be surprised if we see 900, but I would be surprised if their current estimate is so conservative or so far off that we see a billion. As of now we're looking at an increase of about $272 million from the final tally for Wednesday's drawing, and it will take an increase of 472 to reach a billion. That's more than a 70% increase over the current prediction.
Also 4 draws in a row without a neighboring number of adjacent hit. Very interesting indeed! Back to looking at the numbers...
keep it going for sure it will reach a billion and let it be millions of winners thats what im talking about
The Powerball.com website just put up a simple page with the upcoming jackpot amount and the winning numbers from last draw. I guess they're already getting overwhelmed and are trying to keep the whole site from crashing from people just wanting to know the basic info. Glad they're being proactive.
Yeah I saw that and that's what I immediately though. They know this will be one for the record books.
Couple years ago when they did the last record PB drawing they said they may do it at a special location if this reaches 1billion...so we may see a special televised event on saturday night too.
I can easily see this reach 900 million as the jackpot...but maybe not quite the billion dollar mark yet....
Todd,,, If i win can i get a ride in the corvette
Yes!
Everyone is pumped up, Even Uncle Sam is getting his paper works ready. He is not going to buy any tickets but still going to get his share of 25% or 39% depending where u live. How excited will this be if there was no tax .
If it hits 1 Bill, all the Led signs are going to say 000. All the stores will have to hang up cardboard signs.
They'll probably keep it at 999
At least 5 to 10 1 million winners should come from LP
Lol. Yes Uncle Sam is a winner in this. Guaranteed. Rofl!!!!
In Michigan, since the game redesign, the signs (billboards) can now be flipped from "M"illion to "B"illion. I noticed it for the first time when I went back home over the holidays, and thought it was crazy that they would even think about doing that. Not so much anymore.
Please please Lord Make it so!!! :-). I want LP to clean house on this one!
I'm curious to see what it looks like. I don't think they can add a dot between the numbers, so if it's 1.2 bill the sign will probably say 12 bill. lol
Yes its time to get paid. And if i win my family will probably need a restraining order to get me out of the house
. Because am going to hibernation until the coast is clear.
Yahoooo !!!!... Keep going baby !!!
Yeah it would be great to see any of us win something significant especially considering we make up maybe 0.0000001% of the total pool of players lol
Alright my lottery post peeps,lets do this.Good Luck.
Ran some errands, got some gas, the clerk said sales are nuts, but not for gas lol. He said "everyone is buying PB, including me, I bought one!"
The grocery store had a line and people buying $20+ worth and more. People were talking about what they would buy, one said "Oh I wont buy a huge house, just a modest one". Now I thought, with this kind of money, you would buy a modest home?
Now I have been having my own dreams on what this would be like, and what I would do and I can assure my new place would not be modest lol. This is such fun.
After what I have seen, the $$ being spent, the number of purchases and the lines with still a whole day and a half left to go, this WILL get to a BILLION. And this is just my town I see.
Keep in mind 'modest' is in the eye of the beholder. My 11,000 sq foot home might be considered modest to someone in a 22,000 sq ft home. Of course anyone with an 11,000 sq ft home probably thinks of my current fairly nice suburban home as a shanty!
Yeah, this is definitely hitting a billion, this is insane. I'm still only playing $10 worth.
Wowzers...guess I better start getting my financial team in place !!! This is crazy to potentially be a part of a $1 BILLION lottery....I love history !!!
This jackpot really came out of nowhere, and in such a short time no less.
That's how it should be, no tax. When I go to the County Fair and win a giant stuffed teddy bear I don't expect it to have missing limbs, ears, or eyes. I expect the whole thing intact. Lotteries should be the same....NO TAX on winnings!
You are very correct LottoLucy, I didnt consider that. My idea of a modest home is completely different from you or the next person!
Certainly would like that chance to get a 11,000 sq. ft. shanty hahahahahaha.
Good Luck !
Is it true that New Jersey has a special lottery tax of ~10%? It's not on usamega.com
If it does reach a billion and your wish of millions (10million) of jackpot winners comes true then it would be awesome to see them each get a $100 grand prize paid out over 30-years.....woohoo!!
Uncle Sam will get his share at 39.6% as the initial 25% is just a down payment. Must be nice to be able to pocket several hundred million and not even buying a ticket. The states that charge an income tax won't do so bad either as my state of NC will get almost $29 million if the sole ticket is purchased here
You are truly evil to speak this into existence.
