The Multi-State Lottery Association announced late Saturday that the drawing for the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot, which was scheduled for 10:59 p.m. ET, was delayed due to one participating lottery needing additional time to complete pre-draw procedures. It did not specify a new drawing time.
“Powerball game rules require that every single ticket sold nationwide be checked and verified against two different computer systems before the winning numbers are drawn,” the association said in a statement. “Tonight, we have one jurisdiction that needs extra time to complete that pre-draw process.”
Lottery players are waiting for their shot at a Powerball jackpot that has grown to an estimated $1.3 billion after more than three months without a winner.
There have been 40 consecutive drawings since the last time someone won Powerball’s top prize on New Year’s Day, when a single ticket in Michigan had the numbers for a top prize of $842.2 million.
The 41st drawing night will tie a record for drawings set twice before in 2022 and 2021. Saturday’s jackpot will be Powerball’s fourth biggest ever and the eighth largest in U.S. lottery history.
The jackpot, which ranks as the eighth largest in U.S. lottery history, has grown so large because the long odds of 1 in 292.2 million make winning so difficult. That has enabled the top prize to roll over three times a week for months.
The $1.3 billion prize is for a sole winner who is paid through an annuity, with an initial payment and then 29 annual payments. Winners almost always choose a cash payout, which for Saturday night’s drawing would be an estimated $608.9 million.
Players win the jackpot by matching all five white balls and the red Powerball.
Powerball tickets are $2 each, and drawings are held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Powerball is played in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.