MIDDLETOWN, PA – Already the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, the Powerball® jackpot for Saturday, January 9, was boosted again on Friday to an $800 million annuity value or a $496 million cash prize – due to brisk ticket sales.
The jackpot rolled to $675 million on Wednesday night. On Thursday, continuing strong ticket sales pushed it to a $700 million annuity value or a $428.4 million cash prize.
“We are into uncharted territory with this historic jackpot, so please don’t wait to buy your ticket,” said Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko. “Some have suggested that it could reach $1 billion if it rolls again — but considering how many tickets are being sold for Saturday, the chances of another jackpot roll seem slim.”
This jackpot has been rolling since the November 4, 2015, drawing. Since then, in Pennsylvania alone, Powerball has produced one $2 million winner, two $1 million winners and nearly 1.2 million winners of over $13.6 million in prizes.
Lottery retailers statewide are reporting brisk ticket sales. Tickets for the next Powerball drawing will be available until 9:59 p.m. on Saturday, January 9. The televised drawing takes place at 11 p.m. in Tallahassee, Florida.
If this jAckpot is won by a Pennsylvania player, it would become the state’s 20th multi-state jackpot win. The Pennsylvania Lottery has sold 17 jackpot-winning Powerball tickets and two jackpot-winning Mega Millions tickets.
The largest Powerball prize Pennsylvania has ever awarded was a $110.2 million cash-value jackpot claimed by a New Jersey couple in May, 2004. The state’s largest Powerball group win was a $107.5 million cash jackpot shared by 48 transit workers in the Philadelphia area in April, 2012.
Svitko reminded players that it only takes one ticket to win.
“No matter the jackpot level, we encourage all players to always play responsibly,” Svitko added. “A fun way to do that is to pool your ticket purchases with friends or family members, and we offer Pool Play forms on palottery.com that make it easy to manage your pool.”
