The Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated 856 million dollars for the upcoming drawing on Saturday, after no ticket matched the complete combination in Wednesday night's drawing.
With that figure, the total becomes the eighth largest in the entire history of the game, according to local news.
The numbers drawn in the lottery on this August 5th were 14, 20, 59, 60, and 61; with Powerball 25 and a Power Play multiplier of 2x.
No ticket matched all six numbers to win the jackpot.
However, a ticket sold in Ohio did match all five white numbers and won one million dollars. There were no winners for the two-million-dollar prize associated with Match 5 with Power Play.
How much would the winner receive?
The cash value of the current jackpot - the lump-sum option - amounts to 372 million dollars before taxes.
Those who prefer the annuity will receive an immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments, each one 5% greater than the previous one, over a period of 29 years.
The odds of guessing the winning combination are one in 292.2 million, regardless of the size of the jackpot. Each ticket costs two dollars; players must select five numbers from one to 69, and one Powerball number from one to 26.
No winner since May
The jackpot has been building for over three months without finding a winner.
The last winner of the grand prize was on May 2, 2026, when two tickets – one sold in Florida and the other in Texas – shared a total of 20 million dollars.
Since then, raffle after raffle, the jackpot has continued to grow.
Before the drawing this Wednesday, the jackpot had already reached 786 million dollars.
The historical context of the award
The all-time Powerball record remains at $2.04 billion, won in California on November 7, 2022.
The second place is held by the jackpot of $1.817 billion won by a ticket sold in Arkansas on the eve of Christmas 2025, the largest prize in the recent history of the game.
According to The Commercial Appeal, "for Powerball or Mega Millions to exceed 1 billion dollars is no longer as unusual as it once was."
In the past five years, eight jackpots between both lotteries have crossed that threshold, three of them just in 2023.
The expansion into the United Kingdom accelerates growth
The rapid growth of the current boat coincides with a historic expansion of the game.
Since July 21, 2026, Powerball has been sold in the United Kingdom for the first time, through a partnership between the Multi-State Lottery Association and Allwyn UK, operator of the British National Lottery.
It is the first time in history that a non-U.S. lottery contributes to the shared jackpot.
Tickets in the United Kingdom cost four pounds online, and their sales go directly into the pot. For American players, the rules remain the same: the ticket still costs two dollars.
Powerball is played in 45 states in the United States, along with Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are held three times a week: on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
The drawing on Saturday, August 8, is scheduled for 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
If the jackpot is awarded at its current estimated value of 856 million dollars, it would rank among the ten largest prizes ever awarded in the history of U.S. lotteries, just weeks after a ticket sold in Bradenton, Florida, won 800 million dollars in the Mega Millions on July 28.
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