After more than a month of near-misses, the Powerball jackpot climbed again — this time to an advertised $1 billion — and it has people across the country either clicking “buy” or checking their pockets.
Saturday’s drawing follows 41 straight Powerball drawings without a grand-prize winner; the next drawing will be the 42nd in the current run, tying a game record. Drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery studio in Tallahassee.
How big is the prize, really?
The advertised top prize — the annuity option — is about $1 billion. If a winner opts for the lump-sum cash payment instead, the immediate payout would be roughly $461.3 million before taxes. Those numbers are headline-grabbing, but they’re also before federal and (where applicable) state taxes.
Odds haven’t budged: your chance of matching all five white balls and the red Powerball remains 1 in 292.2 million. The overall odds of winning any prize are about 1 in 24.9. Smaller prizes — including $1 million awards for matching the five white balls and boosted amounts through Power Play or Double Play features — continue to be won during this run; recent drawings produced several $1 million winners in states such as Maryland, Michigan and New Jersey.
If you’re buying, tickets cost $2 a play; Power Play is an extra $1. In some states you can pay for additional features like Double Play for a separate drawing, and purchase cutoffs vary by state (for example, Michigan’s in-store and online sales typically close around 9:45 p.m. ET on draw nights).
Why is Powerball getting this much attention — and who’s to blame (or thank)?
Part of the answer is luck: jackpots grow when no one hits the top numbers, and Powerball has been on a long hot streak. But there’s also a behavioral, price-driven story behind the crowds at ticket windows.
Mega Millions raised its ticket price in April from $2 to $5. That seemingly small change — an extra $3 — appears to have nudged many players back toward Powerball, which remained a $2 play. Sales data compiled by lottery watchers show Powerball ticket volumes pulled significantly ahead after the Mega Millions price hike; Powerball sold roughly four times as many tickets (and brought in correspondingly larger revenues) in the months following that change. Economists tracking gambling behavior say even a modest price increase matters when people are watching their budgets. Victor Matheson, an expert in the economics of gambling, described the shift as both a value decision by players and a quirk of timing: Powerball got lucky with long jackpot runs while Mega Millions hasn’t produced as many giant, attention-grabbing jackpots since its price change.
In short: Megamillions’ higher price may have turned value-seeking players toward Powerball, helping fuel a bigger jackpot.
If you win: practical, immediate moves experts recommend
Winning a large prize isn’t just an emotional hurricane — it requires immediate, practical steps. Financial advisers, attorneys and lottery vets emphasize these early priorities:
- Sign the ticket immediately. An unsigned ticket can be claimed by whoever holds it. Use ink and consider photographing or photocopying it for your records.
- Secure the ticket. Keep it in a safe deposit box or a fireproof safe until you claim. Treat it like cash.
- Don’t go public right away. Announcing a windfall invites scams, legal claims and a flood of requests. Some states require disclosure, so consult counsel before you reveal your identity.
- Assemble a team: hire a tax attorney, an accountant and a financial adviser experienced with large windfalls before you file paperwork to claim. They’ll help with state residency questions, tax withholding and estate planning.
- Resist rushing to claim or choosing a payout on impulse. You typically have months (state rules vary) to claim a prize; use that time to form your advisory team and to model annuity vs. lump-sum outcomes.
- Letting others handle the ticket before it’s signed (clerks have been known to steal).
- Storing the ticket casually — don’t treat it like a receipt.
- Broadcasting the win before legal steps are taken.
- Rushing the claim process without legal and tax advice.
- Picking a payout option without stress-testing both the annuity and the lump sum against taxes, estate plans and your psychological comfort for managing large sums.
Financial planners also suggest short-term tactics for the money once you have it: deposit proceeds into insured or otherwise secure accounts, consider short-term U.S. Treasury instruments while you and your advisors build a long-term plan, and keep liquidity limited so you aren’t handing people immediate access to large sums.
Tax rules are major. Where you live and where you bought the ticket can change state tax bills; California, for example, doesn’t tax lottery winnings, while states like New York can take significant cuts. Your advisers will map the right approach for your situation.
Common mistakes winners should avoid
Experts highlight recurring errors that turn a dream into a headache:
Tools that help (and where to look)
Winners will need reliable data and research tools. New financial-technology features — including AI-enhanced search and market tools that integrate corporate filings, earnings calendars and predictive market data — can speed the homework you and your advisory team do when weighing investment options and tax strategies. For example, recent upgrades to online finance tools aim to fuse earnings data, prediction markets and richer search capabilities to make that sort of planning more efficient. See coverage on how Google Finance and related AI features are adding deeper search and market tools for context and research (/news/google-finance-gemini-deep-search-gmail-drive-integration) and how AI search is being applied to Gmail and Drive to surface documents and records that matter during a windfall (/news/gemini-deep-research-gmail-drive-integration).
Winning the lottery is a life-altering event — the numbers are dazzling, the emotions intense, and the paperwork real. Whether you buy a ticket because $2 suddenly feels like the cheapest chance at the impossible, or you’re just holding your breath for the drawing, the practical rule is simple: protect the ticket, build a team, and move deliberately. Then watch the numbers at 10:59 p.m. and see whether fortune finally picks someone this round.