U.S. lottery players are back in the “billion-with-a-b” territory
Monday night’s Powerball drawing had a top prize of $1.04 billion, the ninth time — and the third since the start of the summer — that one of the two big U.S. lottery games has had a billion-dollar jackpot.
The winning numbers were 12-26-27-43-47, with the Powerball being 5.
Powerball expanded to three nights a week in 2021, adding a Monday drawing to its Wednesday and Saturday games. Powerball said that the extra drawing would lead to “larger, faster-growing jackpots.”
Those nine billion-dollar Powerball and Mega Million jackpots, the champion being a $2.04 billion Powerball prize won last November, have all come since 2016.
There have been 30 consecutive Powerball drawings since the last big winner on July 19.
If taken in a single lump sum, as most recent big lottery winners have chosen to do, Monday’s $1.04 billion prize would be worth $478.2 million. The larger, advertised amount is what the other option — a 29-year annuity — would be worth over its lifetime.
Federal taxes would quickly take almost 40% of that amount, with state taxes a possibility on top of that.
The $2 Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The five states on the outside are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.
The odds of a winning Powerball ticket are 1 in 292.2 million.
