Powerball jackpot grows to $1.6 billion for Saturday night’s drawing

The Powerball jackpot grew to an estimated $1.6 billion Friday morning, officials announced. If the estimated figure holds after Saturday night’s drawing and someone wins the grand prize, it would set a new record for the largest lottery prize ever.

A winner has the option to receive the prize as an annuity spread over 29 years or as a lump-sum payment of $782.4 million, officials said.

The jackpot has eluded players since Aug. 3, the last time anyone matched all five winning numbers and the Powerball. The winning numbers in Wednesday night’s drawing were 2, 11, 22, 35, 60 with a Powerball of 23.

The odds of winning it all are 1 in 292.2 million.

When is the next Powerball drawing?

The next Powerball drawing will be held Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Florida Lottery in Tallahassee at 10:59 p.m. ET.

Ticket sales are usually cut off between one and two hours before the drawing, Powerball officials said. In New York, for example, tickets can be purchased until 10 p.m. on the night of a drawing.

Highest Powerball jackpot ever

Since 2016, the highest Powerball jackpot has been a world-record $1.586 billion, which was split among winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.

Mega Millions drawing days

Mega Millions is a different multistate lottery game, and its drawings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. ET. Earlier this year, two people who won a $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot chose to take a lump sum payment of $780.5 million. For Friday night’s drawing, the estimated jackpot was $119 million.