Powerball Jackpot Hits $500 Million

The largest Powerball jackpot in nearly a year is up for grabs.

Wednesday’s drawing will be for an estimated $500 million jackpot; it’s the largest jackpot since a $564.1 million jackpot was hit on Feb. 11, 2015.

The New York Lottery said that sales are brisk for tonight’s Powerball drawing.

“The Powerball jackpot skyrocketed by nearly $150 million in the past four days and New Yorkers are taking note,” said Gardner Gurney, Director of the Division of the Lottery. “As of noon today, New York State was averaging more than $840,000 in Powerball sales per hour. Sales for tonight’s drawing end at 10 p.m., so we urge New Yorkers to get their tickets for a chance to win a half-billion dollars.”

Tonight’s drawing will be the fourth-biggest Powerball jackpot and sixth-largest jackpot prize of any lottery game in U.S. history. No one matched all six numbers for Saturday’s $355.8 million drawing causing the jackpot to roll to $500 million or $306 million in a lump sum.

Lottery officials remind players that they could be a winner even if they don’t win the jackpot prize. The second place prize is $1 million dollars for matching the first five numbers or $2 million if they paid an extra dollar for the Power Play feature when you bought the ticket.

Saturday’s Powerball jackpot of $355.8 million produced over 190,438 winning tickets in New York State. If no one matches all five numbers plus the Powerball for tonight’s drawing, the jackpot will continue to grow. Tickets cost $2 per game and can be purchased until 10 p.m. EST.

Powerball is played in 44 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The largest

Powerball jackpot to date was $590.5 million, won in Florida in May 2013.

The Powerball drawings are held every Wednesday & Saturday at 10:21 p.m. To see the winning numbers locally on TV, you can check the scroll during the newscast on ABC 7.

For more information on how to play Powerball please click here.

You can find your nearest New York Lottery retailer here.