Powerball jackpot balloons to $1.73 billion, second-largest in history, after no big winner
After 35 drawings in a row without a winner, Wednesday's Powerball jackpot has hit a new high of $1.73 billion, the second-largest in lottery history, according to Powerball officials.
No ticket matched all six numbers drawn Monday night, but four tickets sold across the United States — including one in Orange County — matched the five white numbers for a $1-million prize. That lucky Southern California ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven in Lake Forest, according to California Lottery officials.
To win the Powerball jackpot, purchased tickets have to match the five white numbers and the red Powerball number. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball. The next drawing will occur Wednesday night.
The latest estimated jackpot ranks behind only the world-record $2.04-billion Powerball jackpot sold at an Altadena gas station in November.
Read more: Meet 'Papa Joe,' the Altadena gas station owner who sold $2-billion winning Powerball ticket
Joe Chahayed, the owner of Joe's Mobile Station in Altadena that sold the historic ticket, said sales have skyrocketed since November, and especially in the last few days.
"Yesterday we had a line all the way to the street," Chahayed said Tuesday morning. Just Monday alone, he said the store sold more than 5,500 lottery tickets.
“It’s a lot of tickets," he said, hopeful his store would again sell the winning stub. “I have a feeling it’s going to happen again.”
The last Powerball jackpot was also sold in Southern California, with the winning ticket coming from a tiendita near Skid Row in July, worth an estimated $1.08 billion.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
