COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – It could be the ultimate April Fool's Day for anyone looking to cash in on a Powerball jackpot worth $1 billion.
With no players matching the five numbers and the Powerball number in Saturday's drawing, Monday, April 1's Powerball jackpot was worth an estimated $1.026 billion-- a $50 million increase over Saturday's final estimated jackpot.
No foolin' -- Monday's winning numbers are 19, 24, 40, 42, and 56; the Powerball is 23 and the Power Play multiplier is 2X.
Four tickets -- one each in Illinois, Louisana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania -- each won $1 million in Saturday's drawing by matching the five white ball numbers, but missing the Powerball. In total, Powerball said more than 2.3 million tickets won some cash prize in Saturday's drawing.
Monday’s estimated jackpot will be the fifth-highest in the game’s history if claimed and marks the 39th drawing since the game’s last winner – a $842.4 million jackpot won on Jan. 1. It is also the fourth jackpot in less than two years to reach $1 billion.
The top ten Powerball jackpots are:
None of those top ten jackpots was won in Ohio.
Winners have the option of being paid the full jackpot amount in annual payments over 30 years, or taking a lesser, one-time payment (Monday is worth an estimated $483.8 million). Lottery officials said most winners choose the one-time payment.
Players must match five balls numbered 1 to 69 plus a Powerball numbered between 1 through 26 to win the jackpot.
Powerball tickets are $2 per play and are sold in 45 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Players can opt to play the Power Play multiplier for an extra $1, which will multiply the player’s winnings by the drawn multiplier (this applies to all prizes except the jackpot and the $1 million prize, which tops out at $2 million).
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million; the odds of winning any one of the nine different prizes available is 1 in 24.9. Odds are not affected by the number of tickets sold; instead, they are based on the chances of selecting the right combination of numbers. Prizes start at $4 for matching either the Powerball or the Powerball and one other number.
Last Tuesday, one ticket sold in New Jersey matched the winning Mega Millions drawing for an estimated $1.128 billion jackpot (or the $536.6 million one-time payout), the fifth-largest jackpot in that game’s history.
