Saturday’s $1.23 Billion Jackpot Would Be Fourth Largest Powerball Prize

The Powerball jackpot rolled over yet again on Wednesday night and now stands at an estimated $1.23 billion, with its next drawing Saturday, April 6.

Meanwhile, a ticket bought in New Jersey was the sole winner of a $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot on March 26. It was the eighth-largest jackpot of all time.

• Powerball: $1.23 billion estimated jackpot, next drawing Saturday, April 6.

• Mega Millions: $67 million estimated jackpot, next drawing Friday, April 5.

Powerball and Mega Millions tickets are sold for $2 apiece in 45 U.S. states, as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

• To play Mega Millions, pick five numbers between 1 and 70, and a sixth number between 1 and 25. If you don’t want to pick the numbers yourself, you can get a set of numbers generated for you.

• To play Powerball, pick five numbers between 1 and 69 and a Powerball number from 1 to 26 (or have them randomly generated).

If you plan to take part in an office lottery pool, consider taking these precautions.

The current jackpot is estimated at $67 million.

Winners can opt to take their winnings in the form of an annuity or as a single lump sum, known as the cash option. The cash option for the current jackpot is estimated at $31 million.

By taking the annuity option, the winner would get the full jackpot advertised by Mega Millions, but it would be spread out in payments over 30 years.

No matter how lucky you are, you won’t get around paying taxes on a lottery jackpot. After mandatory federal income tax withholding, you’d have about $19.5 million if you took the cash option. How much more you’d pay come tax time can depend on where you bought the ticket — and where you live, if that’s another state. To prepare, make sure you know the ins and outs of how the lottery works.

• The winning numbers will be drawn Friday, April 5 at 11 p.m. Eastern Time.

• If there’s still no jackpot winner, the grand prize will continue to grow.

• The odds of winning the jackpot are roughly 1 in 303 million.

The current jackpot is estimated at $1.23 billion.

Like Mega Millions, winners of Powerball can choose between an annuity that pays out over 30 years or a single lump sum. The cash option for the current jackpot is $595.1 million. After mandatory federal taxes, the holder of a single winning ticket would keep about $374.9 million, minus any state taxes.

• The winning numbers will be drawn Saturday, April 6 at 11 p.m. Eastern Time.

• If there’s still no jackpot winner, the grand prize will continue to grow.

• The odds of winning the jackpot are roughly 1 in 292 million.

The jackpot isn’t the only way to win. Both games have prizes for ticket holders whose chosen numbers match the drawing in a variety of combinations.

• $2.04 billion (Powerball, Nov. 8, 2022 — one winning ticket).

• $1.765 billion (Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023 — one winning ticket).

• $1.586 billion (Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 — three winning tickets).

• $1.58 billion (Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023 — one winning ticket).

• $1.537 billion (Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 — one winning ticket).

• $1.348 billion (Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 — one winning ticket).

• $1.337 billion (Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 — one winning ticket).

• $1.23 billion (Powerball, pending)

• $1.13 billion (Mega Millions, March 26, 2024 — one winning ticket).

• $1.08 billion (Powerball, July 19, 2023 — one winning ticket)