Powerball jackpot climbs to $1.1 billion after there were no big winners in Saturday’s drawing

The Powerball jackpot continues to grow, reaching an estimated $1.1 billion after there were no big winners in Saturday night’s drawing.

The winning numbers Saturday were 1, 28, 31, 57, 58, with a Powerball of 16.

While there were no big winners, two tickets – sold in North Carolina and Pennsylvania – won $2 million each, Powerball said.

The next drawing is Monday night.

This is the second jackpot to hit at least $1 billion this year. Two winners – in Texas and Missouri – split Powerball’s $1.787 billion prize in September. That was the second largest jackpot in US lottery history; the largest, a $2.04 billion Powerball prize, was won in 2022.

Billion-dollar jackpots have been in the US only for the past decade or so, with the first in 2016 from Powerball, valued at $1.586 billion.

Whether winners actually take an advertised jackpot value depends on how they choose to be paid. The $1 billion offered in Saturday’s drawing would have come only if a winner opted for 30 escalating installments – which lotteries offer through an annuity accounting for interest – over 29 years.

Otherwise, a winner could choose a lump sum representing what’s in the actual jackpot pool on the day of the drawing, which in Monday’s drawing is an estimated $503.4 million.

Both figures are before taxes. Powerball and Mega Millions jackpot winners usually take the lump sum.