The $1.9 billion Powerball drawing has been postponed until Tuesday

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Powerball drawing was delayed Monday and the official results likely won’t be known until Tuesday, the Multistate Lottery Association said. The record $1.9 billion Powerball drawing was delayed because the participating lottery had sales problems, officials said.

“Powerball requires all 48 participating lotteries to submit sales and game data prior to selecting winning numbers. Once Powerball receives a pending statement, the drawing can proceed,” the lottery said in a statement to the Associated Press.

Nearly three hours after the scheduled drawing at 10:59 p.m. EST, the association told the AP, “It is against our policy to call a lottery that is delayed.”

Winning numbers and a recorded video of the drawing will be posted on the Powerball website and YouTube channel. Players should keep their tickets, the statement said.

The jackpot is nearly $400 million larger than the previous record jackpot and will continue to grow until someone wins the prize. Only four previous jackpots have exceeded $1 billion, but none of them come close to the current prize, which started at $20 million back on August 6 and has grown even more massive in three months without a win. No one has won the jackpot since August 3rd.

The winner, who chooses an annuity paid annually over 29 years, will receive a payout of $1.9 billion. Almost all winners instead choose to cash in, which will total $929.1 million for Monday’s drawing.

[ [Don’t miss] Q&A: A look at the $1.9 billion Powerball jackpot and how it got so big ]

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​More and more people are drawn to the giant prize for the $2 Powerball ticket, the game’s extremely high odds of 1 in 292.2 million mean that there is still a good chance that another drawing will go without a win. of someone winning the grand prize. That would push Wednesday’s drawing jackpot to more than $2 billion.

Those who spend $2 on a Powerball ticket may wonder if something is wrong when 40 drawings go without a jackpot winner, but that’s how the game is designed. It is unlikely that anyone will win the prize until the growing jackpot attracts more players. And more ticket sales means the lottery can raise more money for government programs, which is what government lotteries are all about.

However, the jackpot has been around for a long time, and if there is no winner on Tuesday due to the delay, it will set a record 41 draws without all six numbers matching.

The game is played in 45 states as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

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Dudley-Lowe reported from Atlanta.