Powerball is closing out the year with yet another eye-popping prize: Saturday night's jackpot stands at an estimated $1 billion. The haul carries a lump-sum cash option of about $457.7 million pretax, and it's the second time in 2025 the game has hit or topped the $1 billion mark. The last time was Sept. 6, when players in Missouri and Texas split a $1.79 billion prize, the second-biggest Powerball payout on record. Only the $2.04 billion jackpot won in November 2022 was larger.
If someone matches all six numbers on Saturday, it would rank as the seventh-largest Powerball jackpot ever and end a 41-day streak with no grand-prize winner. That run is tied for the game's longest dry spell, matching a stretch that ended April 6, 2024, when an Oregon ticket claimed $1.3 billion. Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, plus Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC. Rule changes over the past two decades have helped push jackpots higher and more frequently into record territory.
CNN notes that although lottery jackpots in the US didn't used to break the billion mark, they've done so a dozen times over the last five years. The first billion-plus lottery win came in 2016, when winners in three states split a $1.59 billion top prize. The news outlet also notes that interest in Powerball drawings may be increased of late due to the fact that rival game Mega Millions hiked its price for a ticket in April from $2 to $5; Powerball tickets only cost $2 each.
CNBC, meanwhile, has some tips from experts on what to do if you're the lucky winner on Saturday night. "You will be in an emotional state for a while, and one wants to make decisions logically, not emotionally," one financial planner tells the outlet. The odds of winning the top prize on Saturday remain steep, at 1 in 292.2 million.
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