Powerball Jackpot Soars to $1.7 Billion for Christmas Eve Drawing
The Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $1.7 billion, offering players a monumental prize in the drawing scheduled for Christmas Eve. No winning tickets were drawn Monday night, continuing a nearly five-month streak without a grand prize winner.
Monday’s winning numbers were 3, 18, 36, 41, 54, with a red Powerball of 7, and a Power Play multiplier of 2. While the jackpot remained unclaimed, nine tickets matched all five white balls, securing $1 million prizes for lucky ticket holders in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, according to a Powerball news release.
The upcoming Wednesday drawing will mark the 47th consecutive drawing without a jackpot winner – a record for the game. This current run surpasses all previous jackpot sequences, and the $1.7 billion prize represents the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot in history. The largest US lottery jackpot ever awarded was a $2.04 billion Powerball prize in November 2022.
Interestingly, a jackpot has only been won on Christmas Eve once in the game’s history, Powerball officials stated.
The last time the Powerball jackpot was claimed this year was on September 6, when winning tickets sold in Missouri and Texas split a $1.787 billion grand prize. This prolonged period without a winner has fueled the dramatic increase in the current jackpot.
A single winning ticket on Wednesday would offer the holder a choice: an estimated annuitized prize of $1.7 billion, paid out in annual installments, or a lump-sum payment of approximately $781.3 million before taxes. The annuity option provides an initial payment followed by 29 annual payments, each increasing by 5% annually.
To win the Powerball jackpot, a ticket must correctly match all six numbers drawn – five white balls and the red Powerball. The odds of achieving this are a daunting 1 in 292.2 million. However, the odds of winning smaller cash prizes are significantly more favorable, with some prizes available for matching as few as four numbers, with payouts as low as $4.
Powerball drawings are conducted every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
This story has been updated to reflect the latest jackpot estimate and winning numbers.
