DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A lottery official says the estimated prize for this weekend's Powerball drawing has grown to about $700 million, making it the largest jackpot of any lottery game in U.S. history.
Texas Lottery Executive Director Gary Grief says Saturday's drawing is growing quickly with brisk sales and could grow even larger by the weekend. The jackpot was increased Thursday from the previous estimate of $675 million after no one matched all the numbers in Wednesday night's $500 million drawing.
The previous record was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot won in March 2012.
Wednesday's numbers were 2, 11, 47, 62 and 63, and the Powerball was 17. While no one matched all six numbers, a total of 45,427 West Virginia tickets did win a prize from the Wednesday drawing so players are strongly encouraged to check their tickets before discarding them. The odds of hitting the jackpot with all six numbers are one in 292,201,338, however the odds of hitting any prize in the Powerball game is only one in 24.9.
The cash value of the jackpot would be $428.4 million before taxes.
"There is definitely a lot of excitement around this record jackpot and we would love to see a West Virginian win it," acting Lottery Director John Myers said.
West Virginia has had eight Powerball jackpot winners in its history, with the most recent being Randy Smith of Martinsburg who took the $44 million cash option on an annuitized jackpot of $79 million in August of 2010.
Powerball is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Tickets cost $2 and can be purchased at West Virginia Lottery retailers across the state up until 9:59 p.m. on drawing dates.