The Powerball jackpot has risen to $905 million for Monday’s drawing with a $391.9 million cash prize, after
no big winners were drawn Saturday night.
It will be the eighth-largest jackpot in Powerball history.
“Entering the top 10 largest Powerball jackpots is when we historically see a lot of players join in the game,” Stephen Durrell, Powerball Product Group chair and Kansas Lottery executive director, said in a statement.
If a winner is chosen during Monday night’s drawing, they will be given the option of receiving the full jackpot in 30 annual payments or a lump sum of $391.9 million.
The annuity prize, the headline $905 million figure, would be paid in 30 graduated installments over 29 years.
Powerball odds remain staggering for players hoping to beat the game.
The odds of winning Powerball are 1 in 292,201,338.
According to the National Weather Service, a person has a 1-in-15,300 chance of getting struck by lightning in their lifetime, defined as an 80-year span, making your odds of getting struck by lightning nearly 20,000 times higher than hitting the winning numbers for the next jackpot.
Multiple rare life events carry better odds than winning Powerball.
A lifetime lightning strike sits at roughly 1 in 3,000, while a meteorite strike is about 1 in 700,000.
Monday’s drawing will be the 43rd consecutive drawing without a jackpot winner.
The jackpot was last won on May 2 when lottery players from Florida and Texas split a $20 million jackpot.
While no one claimed the jackpot from Saturday’s drawing,
a ticket sold in Texas won $2 million with the Power Play and four tickets sold in Arizona, Florida, Michigan and New York won $1 million each.
The largest jackpot in the game’s history was a massive $2.04 billion won in California on Nov. 7, 2022.
Powerball drawings are held three times a week — Monday, Wednesday and Saturday — at about 9:59 p.m.
Players choose five numbers from 1 to 69 and one Powerball number from 1 to 26.
The next drawing takes place Monday, Aug. 10.