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The Powerball jackpot continues to climb this summer, now estimated at an impressive $856 million ahead of Saturday night’s drawing. This prize ranks as the eighth largest in the history of the game.
The current jackpot marks the biggest Powerball prize since the massive $1.817 billion win in Arkansas on Christmas Eve 2025, which remains the second-largest jackpot ever recorded in Powerball.
Wednesday’s drawing featured the numbers 61, 60, 59, 14, and 20, with a Powerball of 25. The jackpot was last claimed on May 2, 2026, when two tickets sold in Florida and Texas split a $20 million prize.
While the odds of hitting the Powerball jackpot stand at a staggering 1 in 292.2 million, lottery officials note that this figure applies uniformly to players in both the U.S. and the U.K. The expansion of the player base is expected to accelerate jackpot growth and boost ticket sales as larger prizes attract more participants.
Powerball tickets are priced at $2 each. The game is available in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S.
Virgin Islands. Players select five white balls numbered 1 through 69 and one red Powerball numbered 1 through 26.
Drawings take place three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Here is a list of the 10 largest U.S. lottery jackpots to date, along with the states where the winning tickets were sold:
- $2.040 billion, Powerball, November 7, 2022 (one ticket: California)
- $1.787 billion, Powerball, September 6, 2025 (two tickets: Missouri and Texas)
- $1.765 billion, Powerball, October 11, 2023 (one ticket: California)
- $1.602 billion, Mega Millions, August 8, 2023 (one ticket: Florida)
- $1.586 billion, Powerball, January 13, 2016 (three tickets: California, Florida, and Tennessee)
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, October 23, 2018 (one ticket: South Carolina)
- $1.348 billion, Mega Millions, January 13, 2023 (one ticket: Maine)
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket: Illinois)
- $1.269 billion, Mega Millions, December 27, 2024 (one ticket: California)
- $1.128 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024 (one ticket: New Jersey)
As the jackpot grows, millions of hopeful players will be lining up for their chance to claim a piece of lottery history this weekend.