The Powerball jackpot is up again, rising to an estimated $1.55 billion after Saturday’s drawing yielded several $1-million prizes, including one in California, but no big winner.
The lucky ticket buyer at San Francisco’s Town & Country Market matched the first five numbers but not the red Powerball, winning $1.31 million, according to the California Lottery. Ten tickets across the country match five white balls for Saturday’s $1-million prize, with an estimated $1.4-billion jackpot up for grabs.
The next chance for someone to win it all is Monday night, which is the 35th draw of this jackpot cycle. No one has won the top Powerball prize since a winning ticket was sold July 19 at Las Palmitas Mini Market in downtown Los Angeles for a $1.08-billion jackpot. That winner has not come forward to claim the prize.
This is the first time in Powerball history that two back-to-back jackpots have exceeded $1 billion. The estimated $1.55-billion jackpot for Monday’s drawing is the third-largest Powerball jackpot and the fourth-largest US lottery prize of all time.
Last year, an Altadena gas station sold a ticket for the largest Powerball jackpot in history: $2.04 billion. The winner claimed the lump sum prize and has since bought a $25.5-million Hollywood Hills home in March and a $4-million Altadena mansion later that same month.
If a ticket matches all five numbers and the red Powerball on Monday, the winner will have a choice between a lump sum payment of approximately $679.8 million or the $1.55-billion prize spread over 30 years , before taxes, Powerball officials said.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to officials, and tickets cost $2 each.
