Las Palmitas Mini Market owner Navor Herrera received a check for $1 million during a news conference with Powerball officials Thursday morning. (FOX 11)
The next chance for lottery players to potentially win the half-billion-dollar Powerball jackpot is later Saturday.
The top prize up for grabs, which Powerball will draw at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time, had an annual pre-tax value of $535 million, the lottery said Friday.
No jackpot winners from Wednesday's drawing helped push the jackpot to that level of $35 million. Its value officially reached half of $1 billion before this draw.
AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 10: A customer buys a Powerball lottery ticket at Brew Market & Cafe on October 10, 2023 in Austin, Texas. The Powerball jackpot has grown to over $1.7 billion, making it the second largest jackpot in history. (Ph… (Brandon Bell/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Four minor winners emerged from Wednesday's drawing. Two players received $1 million from Match 5, and two other players saw $2 million via the “Power Play(r) feature,” Powerball said.
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The current size of the grand prize, which is worth $268.2 million as a one-time cash payout, has been rising for over two months at this point.
According to the lottery, the chance of Powerball players hitting the jackpot is 1 in 292.2 million. The odds have been this way since 2015, when lottery officials introduced an updated matrix.
Hawthorne, CA – October 10: Powerball playing cards will be on display at Blue Bird Liquor on Tuesday, October 10, 2023 in Hawthorne, CA. The estimated jackpot for tonight's Powerball drawing is $1.73 billion. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) … (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Someone last hit the Powerball jackpot on October 11th, winning a whopping $1.765 billion. This top prize was “the second largest Powerball jackpot and US lottery jackpot ever won,” Powerball said at the time.
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The only other billion-dollar Powerball jackpot so far this year took place in July. According to the lottery, the $1.08 billion went to someone with a winning ticket in California.
Three other jackets cost $162.6 million, $252.6 million and $754.6 million, respectively.
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Last week, Mega Millions saw a pair of tickets containing all the white balls and the single gold ball needed to win the then $394 million jackpot. A Chevron gas station in Encino, California, sold both, according to the lottery.
MIAMI, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 04: Forms for selecting numbers for Powerball are displayed at a store in Miami, Florida on October 04, 2023. Wednesday's Powerball drawing will have a jackpot of about $1.2 billion. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Powerball's $1.765 billion windfall in October appeared to be the biggest jackpot of 2023.