The jackpot of Wednesday’s Powerball drawing rose slightly to $850 million, although odds are the extra $15 million wasn’t the deciding factor for many ticket-buyers.
The jackpot for the drawing at 11 p.m. is the fourth-largest in the 35-year history of the lottery game, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, which helps coordinate it. The top three, including the one won in July, are all over $1 billion.
After no one won the top prize on Monday, the jackpot had been estimated to be around $835 million. Game officials said that strong sales caused the increase to $850 million.
The last time there was a jackpot winner was July 19, when someone in California won the $1.08 billion top prize.
That was the third-largest in game history. The highest ever was $2.04 billion in 2022, also by someone who bought the ticket in California; and the second-largest was the $1.586 billion won in 2016, which was split by three winning tickets.
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