Powerball prize climbs to $523M

If you’re hoping to strike it rich, now might be your opportunity.

The Powerball jackpot has hit $523 million, or $379 million in estimated cash after federal taxes, as of Thursday afternoon.

No winner was announced during Wednesday’s drawing, but two lucky players did each win $1 million — one in Florida and one in Maryland. A Power Play ticket holder in Pennsylvania won $2 million.

If you want your chance to win, you’d better buy your ticket by Saturday — the drawing closes at 9:50 p.m. that night, and the drawing will be held at 10:59 p.m. Saturday.

According to the Mass. Lottery website, the odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292,201,338. For context, the odds of being struck by lightning are about 1 in 500,000, and the odds of being bitten by a shark are about 1 in 5 million.

The other largest prize this year was drawn on Jan. 20, when a Maryland player won over $731 million. A Massachusetts player from Chicopee won an even larger prize in August 2017: almost $760 million.

A Mass. Lottery spokesperson did not return a request for comment about the size of the prize after taxes, but Massachusetts has a 5% tax on lottery winnings, in addition to a federal rate of 37%.