Why is there no Powerball winner? It’s luck and less sales | National

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Confused that no one seems to be able to win the giant $1.5 billion Powerball prize?

A big reason is that people don’t buy as many tickets for each drawing as they did five or six years ago.

If fewer people buy tickets, a smaller percentage of the millions of possible number combinations are covered, and the probability of a winner drops. The next draw will take place on Saturday evening.

Of course, many people still play Powerball and Mega Millions, other lotteries offered in most parts of the country. It’s the ticket sales from those Powerball players that funded the prizes and allowed the jackpot to soar to $300 million after there was no big winner Wednesday night.

In the most recent $1.2 billion jackpot drawing, 46.6% of the 292.2 million possible number combinations were covered. That was more than the 36.3% of all possible number combinations that were selected for Monday night’s drawing, indicating that ticket sales are increasing as jackpots grow.

But that percentage remains much lower than when the record $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot was won on January 13, 2016. At the time, ticket sales were so high that 88.6% of possible combinations were covered, according to Urbandale, Iowa. Multistate Lottery Association. In the days leading up to the record 2016 drawing, coverage for the $900 million Powerball prize was 77.8%.

However, the association notes that Powerball drawings are now held three times a week, so even if there are fewer tickets for individual drawings, total sales could be roughly comparable due to the extra game each week.

“It’s very difficult to make a comparison between now and five years ago because it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison,” said Drew Svitko, executive director of the Pennsylvania Lottery and chairman of the Powerball product group.

Although no one has won the jackpot by matching all five white numbers and the red Powerball, many have been very close.

Powerball officials say 19 tickets matched five white balls and missed the Powerball — earning players $1 million, or $2 million if they paid extra for a “prize multiplier.” And 238 tickets matched the four white balls as well as the Powerball.

There have been 39 straight Powerball draws without a winner since Aug. 6, and if the streak reaches 40 after Saturday night, the jackpot will surely grow to the largest in the US and the world.

The record number of consecutive Powerball drawings without a winner is 41, which ended on October 4, 2021 with a $699.8 million winner in California.

While no one wins this time, the biggest prize remains the $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot won in 2016 by three ticket holders in California, Florida and Tennessee. That’s slightly ahead of the $1.537 billion Mega Millions prize won by a ticket holder in South Carolina in 2018.

Saturday night’s $1.5 billion prize is for winners, who receive an annuity paid annually over 29 years. Most winners choose cash, and for the next drawing it will be $745.9 million.

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

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