Powerball lottery jackpot at $750M; winning numbers drawing Saturday

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Friday, October 26, 2018
What is Powerball?
Every Wednesday and Saturday night people across the U.S. have the chance to become millionaires with Powerball.

Lottery fever is heating up once again. The estimated jackpot for Saturday's Powerball drawing is $750 million, which would be among the largest lottery drawings in U.S. history.



This comes just days after a single winner of the Mega Millions scored an estimated $1.5 billion jackpot, the second largest.



When is the next Powerball drawing?



The next drawing is Saturday, Oct. 27 at 10:59 p.m. ET. You can buy tickets until Saturday night. Times vary depending on where you buy the ticket, but the cut-off time is generally one to two hours before the drawing.



How do you play the Powerball?



Tickets have six numbers, all of which must be matched to win the jackpot. You can choose your own six numbers or have them randomly assigned. Each number goes from 1 to 69, except for the final number which ranges from 1 to 26.



Powerball is played in 44 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Tickets may be purchased for $2.



RELATED: What to consider if you win the lottery



What are the odds of winning the Powerball?



For every drawing, the overall odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338.



What were the winning numbers on Wednesday night?



The winning numbers are: 3, 21, 45, 53, 56 and Powerball 22. No one hit all six numbers.



There were seven tickets claiming the second-tier prize, which is worth $1 million, by getting the first five numbers correct. The tickets were sold in Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Wisconsin.



Why is the Powerball jackpot so big?



Powerball jackpots start out at $40 million and roll over if there is no jackpot winner. The last time a winning jackpot was drawn was on August 11.



RELATED: Why do the lottery jackpots get so high?



Who won the Mega Millions?



We don't yet know the identity of the person who won the estimated $1.5 billion jackpot on Tuesday, but we know they are in South Carolina, which is one of the states where you can claim your winnings anonymously if you choose.



RELATED: Who is the Mega Millions mystery winner? We may never know




What are the biggest lottery jackpots ever?



Tuesday's drawing is both the largest Mega Millions drawing ever and the second largest overall lottery jackpot.



RELATED: The biggest Mega Millions, Powerball drawings ever



The highest jackpot in U.S. history was a Powerball drawing of $1.586 billion in 2016.




RELATED: How much can $1.6 billion buy?

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