Brisk sales of Powerball lottery tickets for Wednesday's huge jackpot are expected to push the potential prize-winning haul over $450 million. It is the lottery's third-largest jackpot ever.
No player matched the winning six numbers drawn for Saturday's $394 million jackpot, setting up the nearly half-billion-dollar prize. At $450 million, the jackpot would be worth $304.1 million if taken as a lump sum, according to the lottery's website.
The Powerball jackpot has been rolling over since Nov. 29, when one ticket matched the five "regular" numbers and the sixth "powerball" number. Jackpots start at $40 million and rise every time there is no grand-prize winner.
This week's massive jackpot is a return to form for Powerball, which has been known along with Mega Millions for its record-breaking jackpots in recent years. But the Powerball lottery has experienced a recent slump, with nearly a year passing since its jackpot total climbed above $300 million.
Powerball's last major jackpot was in February 2014, when it reached $425 million.
Powerball is played in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The odds of matching all six numbers in the game are 1 in about 175 million. Each ticket costs $2.
The record U.S. lottery prize of $656 million was a Mega Millions jackpot awarded in March 2012. That prize was split among winners in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland. The largest Powerball jackpot ever was $591 million, won May 18, 2013.
The Powerball lottery debuted on April 22, 1992.
Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and staff reports.
