Powerball Jackpot Hits $1 Billion – Excitement Builds!

Records being broken?

Although $1 billion is a momentous milestone, it's not breaking any records. This jackpot, if it's won in the next draw, would be the eighth biggest Powerball jackpot in history; the next biggest is the $1.08 billion prize won in Los Angeles in 2023, while the $842 million prize won by a three-member Michigan group on New Year's Day 2024 has been bumped down to 9^th biggest.

The record to beat remains the formidable $2.04 billion won in November 2022 by a single player, Edwin Castro, with a ticket purchased in Altadena, California.

Wednesday will be the 44^th draw of this current Powerball jackpot roll, which is exciting, because the longest it's ever rolled without a win is 46 draws - only a couple more to go and it'll be a new record.

Based on this, it might surprise you that the jackpot isn't higher. However, the number of jackpot rolls often doesn't line up neatly with the value of the jackpot, since each increase is calculated based on ticket sales for the last draw. While many factors influence lottery ticket sales, our guess is that this Powerball roll's slow start was thanks to the rival Mega Millions lottery having a higher jackpot for much of the duration, attracting more players. The Mega Millions jackpot was finally won at $800 million on July 28 by a single ticket in Florida, ceding the top spot to the at-the-time $663 million Powerball jackpot.

 

What if the UK wins?

The Powerball jackpot hasn't been won since the UK joined the game in late July, back when the jackpot was still $433.1 million. The advertised jackpot in the UK for that first draw was £308 million, already £112 million greater than the record for the biggest lottery prize won in Britain - it's now up to £503 million for tonight's draw.

To give you an idea of how significant this is in the UK, a £0.5 billion jackpot would have been inconceivable as a lottery prize just a few months ago. Prior to Powerball, the biggest jackpot game in the UK was EuroMillions, an international European lottery with a jackpot capped at €250/£213/$288.4 million, so it was literally impossible to have prizes this big.

If this jackpot were won tonight (or even bigger in a subsequent draw) in the UK, it certainly would be record-breaking for them, despite only being the eighth-biggest Powerball jackpot of all time. It would also be the biggest lottery prize ever won in Europe, replacing Italy's 2023 SuperEnalotto jackpot of €371.1/£330.5/$394.6 million.

One point worth mentioning is that UK jackpot winners don't have access to the Cash Option, and must receive their prize as a 30-year annuity. Some of our readers have pointed out that it would be unfair if a UK player won this jackpot, because although they contribute their fair share to the jackpot, it was built up to $433.1 million solely by US players before the UK joined. A good point! Let's hope the jackpot is won in the US, so this doesn't end up causing any issues for Powerball and its fans.

 

Taking Part in Powerball

If you're interested in getting some Powerball tickets, there's still time! Head to our Tickets Page and see if they're available online in your state – or even your country, if you'd like to enter from outside the US. Nowadays, it's possible in many places thanks to courier and betting services! Otherwise, make your way to the store before your state's cut-off time.