PHOENIX (October 25, 2018) - Arizonans are in the midst of what could become another record lottery jackpot run, just days after a South Carolina player won the near-record $1.537 billion dollar Mega Millions jackpot, the Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $750 million for the Saturday, October 27, drawing!
Though no one matched all five numbers plus the Powerball to win Wednesday’s drawing, one Arizonan won $1 million in Surprise and another won $50,000 in Tucson.
“This growing Powerball jackpot is great news for all of Arizona as the building excitement will increase ticket sales, which fund 18 beneficiaries that provide important programs for the people of Arizona,” Arizona Lottery Executive Director Gregg Edgar said, “These include the Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, who speak for abused and neglected children in court, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Heritage Fund, preserving and protecting our state’s unique wildlife for future generations.”
Saturday’s Powerball jackpot of $750 million is the third-highest in the game’s history and the fourth-largest in U.S. lottery history!
Powerball jackpot winners may choose to receive their prize as an annuity or lump sum payment, also called the “cash option”. Those who choose the annuity will receive 30 graduated payments over 29 years. The cash option is estimated to be $428.6 million before taxes.
Looking at both jackpots, totaling $2.287 billion, the run of these games (July 25 to October 23 for Mega Millions; August 12 to today for Powerball) has generated an incredible combined total in Arizona of more than $75 million in sales, over $5 million in commissions to our valued retailers and more than $16.5 million in return to our beneficiaries. In fact, this is already enough to fully fund our obligation to several of our beneficiaries just four months into the current fiscal year!