The PowerBall lottery jackpot has reached another historic high. Lottery spokeswoman Tina Potthoff says nobody chose all the numbers to win last night’s (Wednesday’s) drawing. The jackpot’s at 365-Million dollars for Saturday, higher even than the previous record of 340-Million that was won by a couple in Oregon.
While the jackpot’s built on sales of lottery tickets, she says it won’t go up in direct proportion to the number sold this week. Once a record jackpot is reached, the “Match-Five Bonus Prize” comes into play. Potthoff says once the total is a record, it will only increase by 25-Million dollars per drawing until someone hits the jackpot. The rest of the money will be awarded in prizes for different games.
Some of the earnings from ticket sales are put into a lower pot for “second-tier” prizes.
If a player matches five white balls in the drawing but not the red PowerBall, they’d normally win 200-thousand dollars, but this second rolling jackpot lets them win more money. Potthoff says “There are more prizes to be won, hopefully by more players.” The prize pool payment is on top of any regular “Match Five” prize or Power Play multiplier.