Powerball Jackpot Hits $400 Million for 30th Birthday
Friday April 22nd 2022It’s Powerball’s 30th anniversary this week, and the iconic lottery game is celebrating in style with a $400 million jackpot ($240.8 million cash value) ready to be won in the next draw on Saturday, April 23.
Powerball tickets first went on sale on April 19, 1992, and the first draw took place on April 22, 1992, offering a $6 million jackpot. Since then, the game has grown to become one of the most popular in the US and is known as a multi-state lottery because it is played in 48 jurisdictions (45 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands).
In the past 30 years, 1.75 billion players have won prizes and ticket sales have raised more than $27 billion for state-level services and good causes across the USA. Over 50% of the proceeds from the purchase of a Powerball ticket stay in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Each jurisdiction determines what its lottery profits will be spent on.
"For 30 years, Powerball has been America's jackpot game," Powerball Product Group Chair and Missouri Lottery Executive Director May Scheve Reardon said. "We want to thank our players who have joined us on this journey and dreamed of winning Powerball. Every Powerball ticket purchased has raised money to benefit good causes supported by US lotteries such as education, veterans, senior citizens, and environmental conservation."
Powerball is also keeping things fresh with several changes introduced last year. In August 2021, a new Monday night draw launched, joining the previous chances to win on Wednesday and Saturday.
An exciting new option called Double Play was also introduced by some lotteries. For an extra $1, Double Play offers your Powerball numbers another chance to win in a separate draw featuring a $10 million cash prize.
Powerball Winners
Lotteries nationwide have been looking back at their biggest winners of the legendary prizes that have made Powerball the world-famous game it is today. Powerball has created some of the biggest jackpots in lottery history, including the current world record set in 2016: $1.586 billion won by three tickets in California, Florida and Tennessee. Here's a breakdown of winners and payouts since the game began:
- Jackpot-winning tickets: 393
- $2 million-winning tickets (Match 5 with Power Play): 470
- $1 million-winning tickets (Match 5): 2,424
- All prize-winning tickets: 1.75 billion
- All jackpot payouts: $25 billion
- All non-jackpot cash prize payouts: $23 billion
Jackpot Has Been Rolling Since February 14
The jackpot has been increasing since it was last won at $185.3 million by a single ticket in Connecticut in the February 14 draw - definitely a memorable Valentine's Day! 28 draws later, could it be your turn to take home the life-changing top prize?
The jackpot has been hit once before in 2022, when two tickets in California and Wisconsin both matched all six numbers to share a $632.6 million jackpot on January 5. The amazing jackpot was the seventh-highest in Powerball’s history.
A husband and wife from Oneida, Wisconsin stepped forward a month later to claim their half of the top prize.
In the most recent draw on Wednesday, a ticket in New Jersey won the game’s $1 million second prize by matching all five white balls - however, the ticket had Power Play added at the time of purchase, meaning it actually doubled in value and is worth $2 million.
Next Chances to Win
For the next draw on Saturday, April 23, the jackpot has rolled to an incredible $400 million. It's hard to comprehend such a big number - one way is to consider how tall $400 million is. If the prize were made up of a stack of $100 bills, $400 million would be between the height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (1,063 feet tall) and One World Trade Center in New York (1,776 feet tall).
Another chance to become a multimillionaire is being offered tonight, Friday, April 22, in the Mega Millions draw for $22 million ($12.9 million cash value).
You can pick up tickets for both draws now.
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