Powerball Jackpot Rises to $129 Million
The jackpot keeps growing and players across the nation are lining up to play America's favorite lottery game. A total of 824,219 players won more than $4.9 million in prizes Saturday night. Because no one correctly matched all six numbers in Saturday's drawing the jackpot will grow to an estimated $129 million. The cash option for the Wednesday, May 18 drawing will be an estimated $73.2 million.
The numbers drawn were 21, 29, 38, 49, 52 and the Powerball was 42. The Power Play multiplier was 2. Two players correctly matched the 5 white numbers and won $100,000. Their winning tickets were purchased in Colorado and Missouri. Two additional players in Indiana and South Carolina not only matched that prize level, but also played Power Play for a total win of $200,000.
Thirty-Seven players matched 4 white numbers plus the Powerball and won $5,000. Five additional winners of that prize category also purchased the Power Play option, giving them a total win of $10,000. More than 91,000 winning Powerball players multiplied their prize by 2 Saturday. They were able to do that by purchasing the Power Play option for one dollar. With Power Play you can multiply your Powerball winnings, except for the jackpot, from 2-5 times. At the beginning of each drawing a wheel is spun to select that night's multiplier.
Players should carefully check their tickets after every draw. Even if there are no jackpot winners there are always tens of thousands of winners at other prize levels. Players purchased more than $32.8 million in tickets between Thursday and Saturday night. The lotteries sold more than $2.2 billion in Powerball tickets in FY2004. That translates into more than $660 million for worthwhile state projects. Powerball is now played in 27 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
2005-05-12
