The first Powerball drawing for the new year made one lucky ticket holder from Michigan significantly rich. The person, who is yet to be identified, won the grand prize from the lottery game on January 1, a whopping $842.4 million jackpot (cash value of $425.2 million). The $842.4 million jackpot marked the fifth-largest prize in the history of Powerball. Yet, it was a far cry from the mind-blowing $2.04 billion jackpot, the biggest prize ever won from the game.
Now, more than two weeks after the jackpot was won, the grand prize from Powerball continues to grow. The drawing on Wednesday saw nobody guess correctly all the winning numbers. This enabled the jackpot to increase to an estimated of $120 million for the next drawing of Powerball scheduled for Saturday, January 20, 2024. The estimated $120 million jackpot has a cash option which is approximately $59.4 million.
Concurrently, the jackpot of another popular game across the United States, Mega Millions, also continues to increase. After no one guessed correctly the winning numbers from the game’s drawing on Tuesday, the estimated grand prize soared to $236 million or $113.6 million as a cash option. Mega Millions’ upcoming drawing is scheduled for Friday, January 19, 2024.
Single Winner Takes a Million Dollar Prize from the Drawing on Wednesday
Wednesday’s Powerball drawing saw winning white balls 18, 22, 43, 61 and 65, along with red Powerball 2. While there was no one who guessed correctly all the winning numbers, there was also no one who collected a second-tier $1 million prize. However, one lucky player secured a $2 million Power Play prize by guessing correctly all white balls.
Five more lucky lottery players took home a $50,000 prize each for guessing correctly four white balls along with the red Powerball. While 160 lottery players took home $160 each for guessing correctly four white balls, some 47 secured a $400 Power Play prize each.
Unsurprisingly, the biggest share of winners secured Powerball’s lowest-tier prize, $4. While 168,133 people guessed correctly the red Powerball, 67,703 guessed correctly one white ball along with the red Powerball. Each of those players secured a $4 prize.
On the other hand, nearly 87,000 players collected a $16 Power Play prize each from the latest drawing.