A whopping $700 million is up for grabs in the next Powerball drawing on Wednesday night, lottery officials said.
The estimated jackpot increased from $680 million after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn on Monday night, the 35th consecutive drawing. Wednesday's jackpot is Powerball's largest prize so far this year, the fifth-largest in the American lottery game's 30-year history and the eighth-largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever, according to a press release from Powerball.
If a player wins Wednesday's grand prize, it will be the sixth Powerball jackpot won this year. Jackpot winners can either take the money as an immediate cash lump sum or in 30 annual payments over 29 years. The cash value of Wednesday's $700 million jackpot is $335.7 million, Powerball said.
Tickets cost $2 and are sold in 45 U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was purchased, according to Powerball.
The jackpot grows based on game sales and interest rates. But the odds of winning the big prize stays the same -- 1 in 292.2 million, Powerball said.
Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. The drawings are also live streamed online at Powerball.com.
