Two tickets sold in California and Wisconsin matched all six numbers in Powerball’s Wednesday night drawing. Due to strong ticket sales, the jackpot climbed beyond earlier estimates to $632.6 million at the time of the drawing with a cash option of $450.2 million. The jackpot ranks as the 7th largest in Powerball history.
The lucky ticket holders will split the $632.6 million jackpot. Each ticket is worth an annuitized $316.3 million or $225.1 million cash. Both prize options are prior to taxes.
The winning numbers in the Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022 drawing were white balls 6, 14, 25, 33, and 46. The Powerball number was 17.
Participating lotteries are reminding players to check their tickets for one of the nine ways to win. In Wednesday’s drawing, more than 3 million tickets won prizes ranging from $4 to $2 million. Some of the top-winning tickets included twelve Match 5 tickets worth $1 million each sold in Arizona, California, Florida (3), Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York (2), and Texas. There were also two Match 5 + Power Play tickets worth $2 million each sold in Florida and Georgia.
The Powerball jackpot was previously hit in the Oct. 4, 2021 drawing by a single ticket in California that won a $699.8 million grand prize. That jackpot ranked as the 5th largest in Powerball history and the 7th largest in U.S. lottery history. The Jan. 5, 2022 drawing was the 40th drawing in the Powerball jackpot run.
The $632.6 million jackpot was Powerball’s second grand prize won since the game introduced a third weekly drawing on Monday nights on Aug. 23, 2021. A new add-on feature called Double Play® was also launched in 13 U.S. lottery jurisdictions. Powerball tickets that include Double Play for an additional $1 per play are eligible to win prizes in both the Powerball drawing and a separate Double Play drawing. Instead of a rolling jackpot, Double Play offers a $10 million top cash prize.
Powerball tickets are $2 per play. Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds from the sale of a Powerball ticket remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee.
The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. To date, Powerball holds the world record for largest jackpot set in 2016. The record $1.586 billion jackpot was shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.
Top 10 Powerball Jackpots
$1.586 Billion – Jan. 13, 2016 – CA, FL, TN
$768.4 Million – March 27, 2019 – WI
$758.7 Million – Aug. 23, 2017 – MA
$731.1 Million – Jan. 20, 2021 – MD
$699.8 Million – Oct. 4, 2021 – CA
$687.8 Million – Oct. 27, 2018 – IA, NY
$632.6 Million – Jan. 5, 2022 – CA, WI
$590.5 Million – May 18, 2013 – FL
$587.5 Million – Nov. 28, 2012 – AZ, MO
$564.1 Million – Feb. 11, 2015 – NC, PR, TX