Surging sales push Powerball jackpot to $700 million

Powerball’s second-largest jackpot on record just got even larger. Surging ticket sales have pushed the Powerball jackpot for today’s drawing to a $700 million annuity value or a $443.3 million cash prize.

The jackpot initially rolled to a $650 million annuity value, or $411.7 million cash, after Saturday’s drawing. That drawing saw more than 274,000 winners across Pennsylvania, including a $1 million winner in Blue Bell, Montgomery County and two, $200,000 Powerball with Power Play winners in Elk and Susquehanna counties.

“This surge in ticket sales is great news for the older Pennsylvanians who benefit from the sale of every Pennsylvania Lottery game,” said Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko. “No matter the

jackpot level, we ask all players to please play responsibly.”

In Pennsylvania, Powerball tickets will remain on sale until 9:59 p.m. on drawing nights. The televised drawing takes place at 11 p.m. in Tallahassee, Florida.

Pennsylvania Lottery has sold 17 Powerball jackpot-winning tickets since joining the multistate game 15 years ago this summer. The largest Powerball prize Pennsylvania has ever awarded was a $110.2 million cash value jackpot claimed by a New Jersey couple in May 2004. The state’s largest Powerball group win was a $107.5 million cash jackpot shared by 48 transit workers from the Philadelphia area in April 2012.

Powerball’s largest jackpot also holds the world record. It was a nearly $1.6 billion jackpot that was shared by three winning tickets in January 2016.