$1.6B Record Powerball Jackpot For Nov. 5: Winning Numbers

CALIFORNIA — The Powerball jackpot for the Saturday, Nov. 5, drawing now stands at $1.6 billion, the largest prize in U.S. lottery history.

The winning Powerball numbers for Saturday, Nov. 5, are: 28, 45, 53, 56, 69 and the Powerball of 20.

Over the last week, more than 65.8 million Powerball tickets had been sold in California as of Friday afternoon — that's more than $131,600,000 in Powerball ticket sales in one week. For the most recent drawing, people bought about $5.5 million in Powerball tickets just in the final hour of sales, the California Lottery estimated. The current sequence of drawings has raised $92.7 million for education in California.

In Wednesday’s Powerball drawing, the winning numbers were 02, 11, 22, 35 and 60, with a Powerball of 23. In California, 2 winning tickets worth $1,044,212 were claimed at Wednesday’s drawing. One each at a market in Ontario and a convenience store in Milpitas in Silicon Valley.

Powerball drawings are held at 7:59 p.m. PST on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The estimated jackpot eclipses 2016’s world record $1.586 million Powerball jackpot, split by players in California, Florida and Tennessee.

Winners may choose to receive their prize as an annuity paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years, or they may take a cash payout, which is estimated at $782.4 million for Saturday’s game. Nearly all winners choose cash. The State of California does not tax Lottery prizes.

Federal taxes would about $187.8 million of the cash prize. Most states also tax lottery winnings. California, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming don’t tax lottery winnings.

The odds of winning are abysmal, about 1 in 292.2 million. The odds of winning any prize are better, 1 in 24.9.

A Powerball ticket costs $2. For an additional $1 per ticket, players can multiply non-jackpot prizes by up to 10 times with the Power Play feature. One caveat: The 10X multiplier is only available when the advertised jackpot annuity is $150 million or less.

To win the jackpot, a player must match all white balls in any order and the red Powerball number. Lottery officials say chances are higher when players don’t choose their own numbers. About 75 percent of winning tickets over the years were picked by a computer.

Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. According to Powerball, more than half of all ticket sales remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold.

The jackpot has gone unclaimed since Aug. 3. If no one wins the jackpot Saturday, it will grow even larger for Monday’s Powerball drawing.

Sometimes, winners never come forward.

The California Lottery has raised more than $1 billion just in unclaimed prizes since lottery tickets first went on sale in 1985. The record for the largest unclaimed jackpot in the state is a $63 million SuperLotto ticket sold in Chatsworth in 2015.

In that case, the winning ticket was also sold at a 7-Eleven. A man named Brandy Milliner claimed to have the winning ticket and sued the state, but a judge ruled with the state lottery that Milliner's ticket wasn't the real deal.

The second-largest unclaimed jackpot was a $28.5 million ticket sold in 2003.
Largest unclaimed jackpots in state history:

• $63M (draw date 8/8/2015)
• $28.5M (draw date 9/10/2003)
• $26M (draw date 11/14/2020)
• $25M (draw date 1/8/2000)
• $20M (draw date 10/11/1997)

On Monday, some lucky, procrastinating lottery player waited until the last day to claim a $38 million jackpot in California 180 days after the drawing.

SEE ALSO: $38M Lottery Ticket Claimed At The Last Minute In San Diego

The lottery office keeps the verification process famously secret. It’s not unusual for frauds to come forward with elaborate stories to claim the money. Investigators have to stay one step ahead of fraudsters.

The lottery has a team of experts and a forensics center to help identify the true winner and root out fraud.

Lottery officials have advice for the next Powerball winner: Sign the back of your ticket and snap a picture of the front and the back.

SEE ALSO:

• Lottery Winner Becomes Record-Setting Loser
• $26M Lotto Ticket Destroyed In Laundry, Would-Be Winner Claims
• Meet The Valley Man Who Keeps Winning The Lottery
• 'Rude' Man Pushes LA Woman Into $10 Million Lottery Jackpot
• Excuse Me, Did You Leave $63 Million on the Table in Chatsworth?
• How A Lottery Jackpot Winner Became A Bank Robber
• Lottery Winner Surprised to Discover $1K Ticket Is Worth $1.3 Million
• 'It's The Lottery Curse,' Says Jackpot Winner Turned Bank Robber