Powerball jackpot jumps to $1.23 billion

The Powerball jackpot has soared to $1.23 billion after yet another lottery drawing ended without a big winner.

The winning numbers pulled on Wednesday were: 11, 62, 65, 38, 41 and Powerball 15.

“As the jackpot swells, so does the probability of someone winning,” said Drew Svitko, Powerball Product Group Chair and Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director. “We expect to see more coverage of number combinations in Saturday’s drawing as more players buy tickets, and a portion of every ticket sale will stay in-state to support public programs and services.”

It’s been three months since a player claimed Powerball’s top prize. On New Year’s Day, a ticket in Michigan nabbed an $842.4 million jackpot. Since then, 40 consecutive drawings have taken place, one of the longest stretches to date without a big winner, the lottery said in a statement.

While the jackpot continues to evade Powerball players, nine tickets matched all five white balls in last night’s Powerball drawing to win $1 million prizes. Two of those tickets were sold in California, and another pair were purchased in Massachusetts. The rest were bought in Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina and Washington.

The pot for the next drawing, now the fourth-largest in Powerball history, comes with a lump sum payment worth an estimated $595.1 million. Should no winner emerge after Saturday, the lotto run would tie for the most consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner.

Only two other Powerball runs have previously reached 41 drawings before there was a jackpot winner, according to the lottery.

The Powerball prize is also the eighth largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever, soaring past the $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot that was recently won in New Jersey.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.