Powerball prize grows to $900 million after no jackpot winner drawn

The Associated Press

Another Powerball drawing ended with no winner Saturday night, sending the jackpot soaring to an estimated $900 million.

No ticket for Saturday’s drawing matched the winning combination: white balls 2, 9, 43, 55, 57 and red Powerball 18. The jackpot was estimated at $875 million.

Ticket buyers for Monday’s drawing have a chance at either $900 million paid out in yearly increments or a $465.1 million, one-time lump sum before taxes.

The top prize is the third biggest Powerball jackpot and the seventh largest in U.S. lottery history, Powerball said in a statement early Sunday.

While there was no jackpot winner, Powerball said three tickets that matched all five white balls Saturday are eligible to claim $1 million prizes, including two in Texas and one in Colorado.

The jackpot will keep growing until someone wins.

The game’s abysmal odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to build big prizes that draw more players. The largest Powerball jackpot was $2.04 billion in November.

The last time someone won the Powerball jackpot was April 19 for a top prize of nearly $253 million. Since then, no one has won the grand prize in the past 37 consecutive drawings.

Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.