Powerball jackpot soars to $1.7 billion after no winner Wednesday
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The Powerball jackpot is an estimated $1.4 billion for the Sept. 3, 2025 drawing. Photo: Kelly Tyko/Axios
The Powerball jackpot rose to an estimated $1.7 billion for the lottery's next drawing — now the third-largest U.S. lottery prize ever.
Why it matters: The Sept. 6 jackpot has an estimated cash value of $770.3 million, Powerball said Thursday.
State of play: The rolling jackpot only trails the Nov. 7, 2022 Powerball jackpot of $2.04 billion and the $1.765 billion Powerball jackpot from Oct. 11, 2023.
- Saturday's Powerball drawing is the 42nd drawing since the jackpot was last won in California on May 31.
Powerball numbers for Wednesday's drawing
The numbers in Wednesday's drawing were 3, 16, 29, 61 and 69 with a red Powerball of 22.
Did anyone win the Powerball Wednesday?
The latest: Nobody matched all six numbers in Wednesday's drawing, according to Powerball.
Next Powerball drawing is Saturday night
The next drawing is scheduled for Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET in Tallahassee, Florida.
- Drawings are held three times each week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Watch Powerball drawing live
What we're watching: Drawings are broadcast on the Powerball website live and can be watched on replay on Powerball's YouTube channel.
How much is a Powerball ticket?
Powerball tickets are $2 per play, but for an extra $1 per play you can add the Power Play feature to "multiply non-jackpot prizes by 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 times."
- The multiplier number is randomly selected just before each drawing.
- The 10X multiplier is only in play when the advertised jackpot annuity is $150 million or less, according to the lottery.
Follow the money: Americans spent an average of $320 on lottery tickets in 2023, up about 4% from 2022, a LendingTree analysis of government data found.
How late can you buy Powerball tickets?
The deadline to purchase tickets for Wednesday's drawing varies by state because Powerball tickets are sold by individual lotteries.
- The cut-off times are usually one to two hours before the drawing, according to Powerball.
How to play Powerball game
How it works: Lottery players can pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers — five different numbers from 1 to 69 (the white balls) and one number from 1 to 26 for the red Powerball.
- "Quick Pick" or "Easy Pick" tickets can also be purchased where numbers are selected automatically.
Powerball prizes
By the numbers: Here are the prize amounts for matching numbers with and without the Powerball for all drawings:
- Powerball: $4
- One number and Powerball: $4
- Two numbers and Powerball: $7
- Three numbers: $7
- Three numbers plus Powerball: $100
- Four numbers: $100
- Four numbers plus Powerball: $50,000
- Five numbers: $1 million
- Five numbers plus Powerball: Jackpot
- Prize amounts are higher for players spending $1 extra for Power Play.
Powerball winning odds
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
- The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9.
The bottom line: The odds of being struck by lightning in a year are less than 1 in a million, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Editor's note: This story was updated with information throughout after nobody won Wednesday's drawing.
