Time is running out for Californians to buy tickets for a shot to win an all-time record Powerball jackpot of $900 million.
The deadline to purchase tickets for Saturday night’s multi-state drawing is 7 p.m., according to the California Lottery.
Saturday’s drawing takes place at 7:59 p.m.
Lottery officials announced this afternoon that if no ticket matches all five numbers plus the Powerball number Saturday night, next Wednesday’s jackpot will swell to an estimated $1.3 billion.
Saturday night will be the 19th Powerball drawing since the last time someone won the jackpot.
For last Wednesday’s drawing, several tickets were sold with five numbers, but missing the Powerball number, including one in California. The ticket sold at Perry’s Liquor in Union City is worth $1,414,967, California Lottery officials announced.
The numbers drawn Wednesday night were 2, 11, 47, 62, 63 and the Powerball number was 17.
The previous Powerball jackpot record was $590.5 million, which was claimed by a single winner in Florida in May 2013. Two lucky Powerball players split a $587.5 million jackpot in November 2012.
The last California Powerball winner was in February 2014, claiming $425.3 million, according to the lottery.
California led all states Friday in Powerball sales with $37 million, according to lottery officials. New York was second with $22 million.
The odds of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number are roughly 1 in 293 million, according to the Powerball website. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 24.87.
The Powerball game is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.
Tickets cost $2 each.
—City News Service