Powerball jackpot climbs to a staggering $495 million

The jackpot for the next Powerball drawing stands at $ 495 million after no one matched all six numbers Wednesday night.

The prize is the eighth largest in the history of the game.

“Jackpot excitement rolls on,” said David Barden, Powerball Product Group chairman and New Mexico Lottery chief executive officer, in a news release. “Just one $2 Powerball play could be the ticket to this giant jackpot or any of the eight other price tiers.”

The jackpot run that started in late December has already produced 33 tickets that have won $1 million and eight tickets that have won $2 million, according to lottery offi- cials.

The winning numbers for Wednesday’s drawing, as announced by the California Lottery, were white balls 18, 36, 45, 47, 69, plus Powerball 14, and Powerball multiplier 3X.

Lottery officials said there are nine ways to win in Powerball and anyone who bought a ticket for Wednesday’s drawing still may have won a prize ranging from $4 to $2 million.

Two tickets in New York matched all five white balls, but missed matching the red Powerball. And one ticket in Florida matched all five white balls and doubled the prize to $2 million because the ticket included the Power Play option for an additional $1.

In total, there were 1.4 million winning tickets across all prize tiers, according to lottery officials.

Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Pacific Time.

The odds of winning a jackpot per play are 1 in 292,201,338.

Lottery fever gripped the country last October when the Mega Millions jackpot soared to a record $1.5 billion. The holder of the winning ticket, which was sold in South Carolina, only came forward last week to claim the prize.

Closer to home, 11 workers at a Wells Fargo branch in San Jose split a $543 million Mega Millions jackpot last July. The winning ticket was sold at Ernie’s Liquors in San Jose.