News writer
Powerball fever is reaching a boiling point as the jackpot surges to heights rarely seen before. With history already being made and billions on the line, the excitement surrounding Saturday's drawing has players across the country wondering if this could finally be the night, or if the record-breaking run still has room to grow.
Record-breaking jackpot run
On Friday, September 5, 2025, lottery officials announced that the estimated jackpot for the Powerball drawing on Saturday, September 6, is now $1.8 billion. The jackpot has an estimated cash value of $826.4 million.
With this increase from the original $1.7 billion, Saturday's Powerball jackpot ranks as the second-largest Powerball jackpot in U.S. lottery history. The biggest Powerball jackpot was $2.04 billion, which was won by Edwin Castro in California on November 7, 2022.
In addition, Saturday's drawing will be the 42nd drawing since the Powerball jackpot was last won. That jackpot win took place on May 21, 2025, when one ticket purchased in California matched all the numbers drawn to win the $205 million jackpot.
This current jackpot run is the game record for the most consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner. The previous record was 41 drawings, which that streak ended on April 6, 2024, when a ticket in Oregon won the $1.33 billion jackpot.
Powerball frenzy brings lots of non-jackpot winners
With the jackpot growing and growing, more and more people are buying tickets in hopes of becoming a billionaire. Even without a jackpot winner during Wednesday night's drawing, there were still 15 new millionaires created.
The winning white ball numbers for Wednesday, September 3, 2025, were 3, 16, 29, 61, and 69. The Powerball number was 22, and the Power Play multiplier was 2.
Across the country, 11 tickets matched all five of the white ball numbers to win $1 million. Those $1 million-winning tickets were sold in California (2), Colorado, Florida, Georgia (2), Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
There were also four tickets that matched all five of the winning white balls and included the Power Play option, so their winnings doubled to $2 million. Those $2 million-winning tickets were sold in Michigan, Oregon, Texas, and Wyoming.
In addition, there were 117 tickets that won $50,000 prizes (Match 4 + Powerball), and 36 tickets that won $100,000 prizes (Match 4 + Powerball + Power Play). In total, lottery officials said over 6.3 million tickets won cash prizes during Wednesday's Powerball drawing.
Top 10 Powerball jackpots
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. These people have done it before, as we share the top 10 Powerball jackpots of all time:
- $2.04 billion – November 7, 2022 – Winning ticket sold in California.
- $1.8 billion (estimated) – September 6, 2025 – Will someone win it all, or will the jackpot run continue?
- $1.77 billion – October 11, 2023 - Winning ticket sold in California.
- $1.59 billion – January 13, 2016 – Three jackpot-winning tickets were sold in California, Florida, and Tennessee.
- $1.33 billion – April 6, 2024 - Winning ticket sold in Oregon.
- $1.08 billion – July 19, 2023 – Winning ticket sold in California.
- $842.4 million – January 1, 2024 – Winning ticket sold in Michigan.
- $768.4 million – March 27, 2019 – Winning ticket sold in Wisconsin.
- $758.7 million – August 23, 2017 – Winning ticket sold in Massachusetts.
- $754.6 million – February 6, 2023 - Winning ticket sold in Washington.
The next Powerball drawing will take place on Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET. Enjoy playing the lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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