Powerball drought continues: Tonight could be the year's biggest win

The Powerball jackpot sits at $643 million tonight. That's massive money. If someone wins, it becomes the largest Powerball prize of 2025.

This jackpot has been rolling since May 31. A single ticket in California claimed $204.5 million that night. Since then? Nothing. Tonight marks the 35th drawing in this drought.

The numbers tell the story

The cash value stands at $290.6 million. Monday's drawing produced two Match 5 winners worth $1 million each—one in Arizona, one in Texas. No Power Play winners hit the $2 million mark.

But here's what matters: if tonight's jackpot hits, it marks only the fifth Powerball win of 2025. That's drought territory.

Five states are still waiting for their first taste

Powerball operates in 45 states plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. That's 48 jurisdictions total. Yet five have never tasted jackpot victory:

• Maine
• Mississippi
• North Dakota
• U.S. Virgin Islands
• Wyoming

Why the goose eggs? Player volume matters. So does timing. Mississippi joined Powerball in 2020—they're rookies. Meanwhile, Indiana has been playing since 1992 and leads the winner count.

Record territory for many states

Tonight's jackpot would shatter records across America. Consider the evidence:

Colorado's biggest moment came in 2017. Judy Finchum played the same numbers for 30 years. On her dog Tillie's birthday, persistence paid off. She won $133.2 million. Tonight's prize doubles that.

New York's largest win? A $432 million Mega Millions ticket bought at Pronto Pizza in Manhattan in September 2021. Tonight's Powerball jackpot exceeds that by $211 million.

Wyoming's record stands at $5 million. Someone in Evanston hit Mega Millions in March 2016. Tonight's jackpot represents 128 times that amount.

The newcomers would celebrate the biggest

Mississippi started its lottery in 2019. Their largest single jackpot? A Mississippi Match 5 ticket worth $524,976, sold in Poplarville in February 2022. Tonight's prize is 1,225 times larger.

North Dakota's record hit $3 million twice—once in Fargo in 2021, once in Williston in 2016, both Mega Millions wins. Tonight's jackpot represents 214 times that amount.

Maine's mixed lottery fortune

Maine never won Powerball's big prize. But they scored huge in January 2023. A single Mega Millions ticket hit $1.348 billion—the game's second-largest jackpot ever. Someone in Maine became very wealthy on Friday the 13th.

The U.S. Virgin Islands had their moment in 2018. A St. Croix resident won $2 million when the $758.7 million Powerball jackpot hit. Tonight's full jackpot would dwarf that by 321 times.

Will the drought end tonight?

Thirty-five drawings. No winners. The math gets tougher each time, but someone always wins eventually. Tonight could be that night. For five jurisdictions, it would be their first taste of Powerball glory. For many others, it would rewrite their record books.

The question isn't whether someone will eventually win. It's when and where.