Powerball jackpot now soars to $1.4bn – the third-largest in history

Powerball has named this new prize the third-largest jackpot in history

The Powerball jackpot has continued to soar higher to a huge $1.4bn after the latest drawing brought no ticket matches to all six numbers.

The winning numbers in Wednesday’s drawing were 9, 35, 54, 63, 64, and a Powerball of 1.

The next drawing will be on Saturday with the jackpot at the $1.4bn mark, with a $643m cash option.

This extra $200m on top of Monday’s jackpot rollover has made it the new third-largest jackpot in Powerball history.

It also marks the first time ever that there have been two back-to-back jackpots over $1bn, Powerball officials said.

There have been 34 consecutive drawings since the last jackpot win in July, meaning the number has grown to a mind-blowing amount.

Despite not winning the enormous jackpot on Wednesday, seven ticket holders in different states matched all five numbers making them the winners of $1m; three of which had the power play feature which upped their prize to $2m.

In total, 3.2 million people across the US also had winning tickets of some degree on Wednesday, with 81 people winning $50,000 prizes.

While the jackpot has past the staggering $1bn mark, it is nowhere near the largest prize ever won in Powerball history.

Back in November last year, a person from California had their life completely transformed when they took home a $2.04bn jackpot prize after purchasing their ticket.

However, this estimated prize is the third-largest amount to be given away in Powerball history, outpassing the jackpot won by a Californian back in July of $1.08bn.

The Powerball jackpot has increased by 200 million since the last draw (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The second-highest win ever was a $1.586bn jackpot split between three ticket holders in California, Florida and Tennessee back in 2016.

The next draw will take place at 10.59pm ET on Saturday night at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee.

According to Powerball, the chances of winning the jackpot are one in 292,201,338, whereas the chances of winning some sort of prize, albeit small, is 1 in 24.9.

While this seems near impossible, you, of course, have to be in it to win it! Tickets cost $2 each and an extra $1 to add power play for a chance to increase the amount of money you win.

Someone very soon could be taking home this colossal jackpot. Powerball numbers are announced every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

Winners can choose to take home a lump sum or be paid in instalments over a period of 30 years.