But as no one has claimed the $97 million jackpot for the July 4 draw, according to the Powerball website, it will now roll over to the next drawing on Thursday July 23.
The estimated jackpot then will be $106 million (with a cash value of $86 million).
Although no-one claimed the top prize, there were some big winners from Saturday night’s drawing. A player from Georgia matched all five white balls correctly to win $1 million.
Thirteen players matched four balls and the Powerball to win $50,000 prizes, while another four players also had the Power Play feature and so doubled their winnings to $100,000.
The Powerball jackpot was last won in June when a player in West Virginia scooped $136 million in the drawing on June 3. Before that, a player in New Jersey won the $190 million jackpot in the April 9 draw after buying the winning ticket at Buy-Rite Liquor in Piscataway.
And in January, a woman in Florida won the massive $396.9 million jackpot. Sheryll Goedert, 61, chose to receive her winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of around $276.6 million.
How to play the Powerball lottery
The Powerball lottery can be played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. To enter the Powerball lottery, players must purchase a ticket from a licensed lottery retailer. Participants choose five numbers between 1 and 69 for the white balls and one number between 1 and 26 for the red Powerball.
The Powerball drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET and the ticket sales cut off around one to two hours before the drawing, depending on the jurisdiction. To watch the Powerball drawing, go to the Powerball website to see which television stations show the drawing in your area.
Powerball jackpot
Many factors determine the Powerball jackpot amount, including game sales and the annuity. Saturday drawings have greater game sales than a Wednesday drawing, for example, and the amount of tickets purchase can vary throughout the year.
The annuity, which funds an annuity prize, can be affected by interest rates, as the higher the interest rates, the higher the advertised Grand Prize.
The difference between the Powerball annuity and cash option is that a jackpot winner can choose to either receive the money as an annuity which is made up of 30 graduated payments increased by 5 percent each year over 29 years or as a lump-sum payment paid out in one go.
The cash value option is the amount of money needed in the jackpot prize pool to fund the estimated jackpot annuity prize.
