Powerball jackpot at $875 million

The Mega Millions® jackpot continues to climb, while the Powerball® grand prize faces its latest test in that game’s drawing tonight.

No one won the jackpot in Friday’s Mega Millions drawing, pushing the grand prize to an estimated $640 million annuity, $328 million lump-sum option for the game’s next drawing on Tuesday. That is the seventh-largest jackpot in the history of that game, a news release says.

The Powerball jackpot now stands at an estimated $875 million annuity, $441.9 million lump-sum option for the game’s next drawing tonight. That is the third-largest jackpot in Powerball history.

This is the third time that the jackpots in Powerball and Mega Millions have simultaneously topped $500 million.

The world record for a lottery prize remains the Powerball jackpot of $2.04 billion won in November in California. 

The Latest Winning Numbers In Both Games

The winning numbers in Friday’s Mega Millions drawing were: 10-24-48-51-66 and Mega Ball 15. The Megaplier® number was 2.  

The winning numbers in Wednesday’s Powerball drawing were: 23-35-45-66-67 and Powerball 20. The Power Play® number was 3.

Three times this week, tickets purchased in Iowa came close to having at least a share of the Powerball jackpot. The tickets matched the winning numbers in different ways, and ended up winning prizes of $2 million, $150,000 and $100,000 respectively.

The $2 million and $100,000 prizes were won in Monday’s Powerball drawing, while the $150,000 prize was won in Wednesday’s drawing. They are a reminder that players can win significant amounts even if they don’t hit the jackpot.

The $150,000-winning ticket was purchased at Casey’s, 1402 Ninth St. SE in Dyersville. The ticket matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball to initially win a $50,000 prize in Wednesday’s drawing. But whoever bought the ticket added the Power Play® option to the ticket, which multiplied the prize to $150,000.

Lots of first-time and occasional players jumping in now

When the jackpots really get up there like they are now, lots of first-time and occasional players jump in to buy tickets, the release says. Office pools and people buying tickets with friends and family also see a spike.

The Iowa Lottery got some questions this week from people who said they wanted to play but didn’t know how, and wanted to avoid appearing silly when trying to buy a ticket.

Here is the answer: The simplest way to buy a ticket is to ask a clerk at a store for an easy-pick play in Powerball or Mega Millions. The lottery terminal will select the numbers for that play and print out the ticket. Generally, at least 90 percent of the tickets purchased in the games are easy-pick plays. 

To give everyone a quick brush-up on how to play the games, the Iowa Lottery keeps how-to-play videos available on its website here.

And, reminders to help keep lottery group play fun and hassle free can be found here.

Protect yourself form scammers who notice big jackpots, too

Scam attempts have been at all-time highs in recent years, and while the criminals behind them run cons of all types, they turn their attention to lottery games when jackpots are high, the release says.

Scam operations have fraudulently used the names and logos of lotteries and well-known lottery games, and sometimes the names of lottery winners and lottery officials in an attempt to steal people’s money.

The scams can involve persistent telephone calls and official-looking emails, text messages, social media postings, and letters. They promise big prizes and try to lure consumers into thinking they have won, but it is a scam.

A common thread is that the unsuspecting “winner” is asked to pay money up front for supposed things such as taxes, processing fees or delivery charges.

The scammers can sound quite convincing but it’s important to know this simple truth: There is never a fee to claim a real lottery prize. If you are asked to pay money, it is a scam.

When you win a prize in a game like Powerball or Mega Millions, you notify the lottery that you are the winner, not the other way around. The Iowa Lottery has records about the winning ticket and where it was purchased, but the lottery does not know the winner’s identity until that person presents the ticket for payment.

The Iowa Lottery keeps security reminders as a permanent feature on its website to help consumers stay safe. Here is a direct link to the lottery’s Player Security tips.

Deadline to buy 

The deadline in Iowa to buy tickets for the Mega Millions and Powerball drawings is 8:59 p.m. on the night of the drawing. If you buy a ticket after that, it will be for an upcoming drawing and you won’t be in the running for that night’s giant prize. Remember to play responsibly, the release says. You need only one ticket to have a chance to win.

About the Iowa Lottery: Since the lottery’s start in 1985, its players have won more than $5.4 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $2.3 billion for state programs.