Thread: Powerball Jackpot Rises to $310 Million, 4th Largest Ever

Powerball Jackpot Rises to $310 Million, 4th Largest Ever

Updated: Thursday, 09 Feb 2012, 2:19 PM MST
Published : Thursday, 09 Feb 2012, 2:19 PM MST
By: NewsCore

NEW YORK -- The Powerball jackpot climbed to $310 million Thursday after no one claimed the grand prize in Wednesday night's drawing.

No one has managed to match all six Powerball numbers since a Pennsylvania couple collected $128 million in December.

The next drawing is Saturday night at 10:59pm ET and will mark the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot ever and eleventh-largest lottery jackpot in US history.

Should someone win this weekend, they can choose to take the $310 million in installments or opt to take $193.4 million in cash.

Saturday's Powerball drawing is now the largest since an Ohio man won $314 million in August 2007. The record Powerball jackpot was $364 million, shared by eight co-workers at a Nebraska food-plant in February 2006.

Powerball is played in 42 States, Washington D.C. and the US Virgin Islands.

According to the Powerball website, the odds of winning the golden ticket with all six correct numbers are one in 175 million.

A Powerball ticket now costs $2.

Powerball Jackpot Rises to $310 Million, 4th Largest Ever

Powerball jackpot hits $325 million

Posted: Feb 10, 2012 1:15 PM PST Updated: Feb 10, 2012 1:15 PM PST

PRESS RELEASE

ATLANTA – As a result of brisk ticket sales, lottery officials announced today that the Powerball jackpot has been raised from $310 million to $325 million for Saturday's drawing.

This is the largest Powerball jackpot since Georgia began selling game tickets in 2010. The jackpot's approximately $202.9 million cash option is the highest in Powerball history.

With the new Powerball enhancements implemented in mid-January, the game has been redesigned to generate bigger jackpots and more millionaires.

The Powerball jackpot has been growing since Dec. 28 and has rolled 13 times.

Powerball tickets are $2 per play.

As with all other Georgia Lottery games, proceeds from Powerball will benefit education in the state of Georgia.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $13.1 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia's Pre-K Program. More than 1.4 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.1 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary pre kindergarten program.

Powerball jackpot hits $325 million - WLTZ 38 | Columbus Georgia Regional News & Community