The Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee will host the Powerball drawing on Wednesday night at 10:59 p.m. ET.  The pretax jackpot of $643 million, which will be distributed over 30 allocations, or a one-time cash option of roughly $290.6 million will be awarded to the winner if a ticket matches the five white balls and red Powerball.

This year, the Powerball jackpot has hit four times. The most recent instance occurred on May 31, when a fortunate player in California won a $204.5 million annuitized reward.  The interstate lottery game has rolled over 35 times since then.

One initial payment and 29 yearly payments, each increasing by 5%, make up the annuitized option's disbursement.

Powerball's jackpot has been struck eleven times since it last reached $1 billion, with a $1.32 billion reward won on April 6, 2024.  On March 29, a player from California won the largest reward of $526.5 million.

Free Tickets for Powerball

By providing free Powerball plays for Wednesday night's drawing, online lottery courier Lotto.com, whose main rival is Jackpocket, which is supported by DraftKings, hopes to gain some market share.

With the code "PBJP25," Lotto.com is offering new accounts a free $2 Powerball bet in 11 states: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Oregon.

New registrations in New York are not eligible for the promotion, which is the fine print.  The discount is available for all new account registrations through December 31st, not just tonight.

Over three million people use Lotto.com, according to the website.  A convenience fee of 15% to 25% is levied by Lotto.com.  There are no costs associated with cashouts or commissions on prizes collected by the online lottery courier.

Powerball and Mega Millions tickets are available for purchase on Lotto.com.  Additionally, the courier offers scratchers and state lottery drawing purchases.

A comparable service is Jackpocket.  With their friend's initial deposit, Jackpocket's "Refer A Friend" promotion awards accounts with $20 in lottery credits.  In addition to state lottery drawings and scratch-offs, Jackpocket accounts can buy Powerball and Mega Millions plays.

Increasing Jackpot 

One in more than 292.2 million tickets will match all six Powerball numbers.  As more tickets are sold and more of the 292.2 million possible number combinations are covered, the likelihood of a ticket matching the jackpot likely increases when jackpots soar to near-record highs, even though the odds stay the same.

The Powerball prize on Wednesday night, which was $643 million, is getting close to the Top 10 Powerball Jackpots list.  No. 10 is a $731.1 million reward that was won in January 2021 in Maryland.

For the drawing on Friday, the Mega Millions jackpot is $234 million.  The top prize in Mega Millions hasn't reached $1 billion since the game changed its gameplay and raised the minimum ticket price from $2 to $5 in April.  According to lottery authorities, players have won far more money as a result of the move, which has helped nonjackpot winners.