Powerball Winning Numbers Drawn, At Least Three Tickets Match
The Powerball’s winning numbers were drawn on Wednesday night and it appears per initial reports that three tickets sold this week match all numbers.
The winning numbers this time around were 5-25-30-58-59 and Powerball 32. Lottery officials announced after the drawing that winning tickets were sold in Minnesota and New Jersey. While Minnesota had one winning ticket, New Jersey had two.
Several Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots in 2013 have reached staggering sums, thanks to a string of no-win weeks, notes NBC News.
The most recent jackpot, which will be split at least three ways, was an estimated $448 million. The prize is the fourth largest lotto jackpot in US history.
But it doesn’t quite come close to last year’s $656 million Mega Millions jackpot, which stole the record in March 2012. The next three jackpots were all for the Powerball and were all drawn in the last nine months.
The higher jackpots are likely the result of a ticket price change for the multi-state lottery. Lotto officials upped the price per ticket in January 2012 from $1 to $2.
While the $448 million jackpot is a huge prize in itself, CNN notes that the prize money would likely have soared to $600 million or more if the Powerball winning numbers didn’t match any tickets on Wednesday.
Chris Strutt, head of the Multi-State Lottery Association, stated that the price change was made to increase revenue and up the jackpots. While the change has certainly created better jackpots, they have come with attention-grabbing headlines. Rather than a 35 percent decrease in participation, more players have been pulled in.
Strutt added, “It’s been a lucky year for the Powerball.” That can be seen in the lottery’s profits, which have increased by over 50 percent since the rule change was made. The game raked in an impressive $5.9 billion in the last fiscal year.
The Powerball is currently played in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and the US Virgin Islands. So, if you live in Minnesota or New Jersey, it’s worth checking out that Powerball ticket you bought to see if it has the winning numbers.
[Image via ShutterStock]
