COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – For the second straight time, the Powerball jackpot has topped $1 billion, sending millions of people out to kiosks and service counters across the country, all with a dream of becoming a billionaire, or at least a millionaire after taxes.
Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing marks the 33rd time numbers have been drawn in this round of the jackpot, which is worth an estimated $1.192 billion.
Wednesday’s winning numbers are 9, 35, 54, 63 and 64 and the Powerball is 1. The Power Play multiplier is 2x.
Monday’s jackpot of $1.066 billion was the fourth-largest jackpot in the game’s history. Wednesday’s jackpot is now the third largest, surpassing the last billion-dollar jackpot, which, coincidentally, was also the last jackpot won in the drawing: $1.08 billion on July 19.
If there is a winning ticket sold for the next drawing on Wednesday, it will be worth a one-time cash payment of $551.7 million. Winners of the jackpot can choose either the one-time payment or to be paid out in 30 annual payments over a 29-year period for the full amount (each payment increases by 5% annually). Both prize amounts are before taxes.
In nearly all cases, state lotteries immediately take 24% of the prize for federal taxes (in this case, the total jackpot prize would result in $288 million being withheld); there is also the possibility of additional taxes due when filing federal returns. In Ohio, any lottery prize more than $600 is taxed at 4% ($48 million for the full jackpot).
In the case of the one-time payout, $132,408,000 would be withheld in federal taxes and $22,068,000 in Ohio taxes, making the payout worth an estimated $397,224,000.
The top 10 Powerball jackpots in the game’s history are:
- $2.04 billion – Nov. 7, 2022
- $1.586 billion – Jan. 13, 2016
- $1.192 billion (est.) – Oct. 4, 2023
- $1.08 billion – July 19, 2023
- $768.4 million – March 27, 2019
- $758.7 million – Aug. 23, 2017
- $754.6 million – Feb. 6, 2023
- $731.1 million – Jan. 20, 2021
- $699.8 million – Oct. 4, 2021
- $687.8 million – Oct. 27, 2018
Of those top 10 jackpots, none have been won in Ohio. The last jackpot won in Ohio was on April 16 by the Crazy Luck Trust Ohio for an annuity of $252,600,000 or a one-time payment of $134,669,327.27, according to the Powerball website.
More than 2.7 million winning tickets worth at least $4 were sold for Monday’s drawing. Two tickets matched the five white balls and the Power Play multiplier to win $2 million each; two other tickets matched the five white balls for a $1 million prize. Twelve tickets won $100,000 prizes while 70 tickets won $50,000.
Players select five white-ball numbers between 1 and 69 and then one red Powerball number between 1 and 26.
Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets cost $2 each with an optional $1 Power Play multiplier option which applies to all prizes except the jackpot. In most areas, the sale of tickets ends anywhere from one to two hours before the 10:59 p.m. EST drawing.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338 while the odds of winning any amount are 1 in 24.87. The odds remain consistent because they are based on the possibility of matching the drawn combination of numbers, not on the number of tickets sold.
