The second-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history is on the line Saturday evening, a $1.8 billion grand prize in the Powerball game.
Lottery officials raised the estimate Friday morning from $1.7 billion after reviewing national ticket sales.
There hasn’t been a drawing with a grand prize winner since May 31, when a ticket worth $207 million was sold at a convenience store in Arleta. The run has already produced 101 other winning tickets worth $1 million or more and more than 1,000 tickets worth $50,000 or more, according to Powerball officials.
“Excitement is building as players look forward to tomorrow night’s drawing for this historic jackpot,” Matt Strawn, Powerball Product Group Chair, said in a statement Friday. “We encourage everyone to play responsibly and take pride in knowing that every $2 ticket also helps support good causes in their community.”
The most recent drawing Wednesday included two tickets sold in California with five winning numbers, but missing the Powerball number. Those tickets, including one sold at a Stater Bros. at 7200 Arlington Ave. in Riverside, were each worth $984,594.
Saturday’s drawing will take place at 7:59 p.m., but tickets sold after 7:05 p.m. will only be eligible for the following drawing on Monday.
The largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history was the $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won by Edwin Castro in November 2022. That ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena.
The odds of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number is 1 in 292.2 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 24.9.
The Powerball game is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.
Meanwhile, the jackpot in California’s other multistate lottery, the Mega Millions game, stands at $358 million for Tuesday’s drawing.