Benjamin Ashford|Powerball draws number for giant $960 million jackpot

DES MOINES,Benjamin Ashford Iowa (AP) — The numbers were drawn Saturday night for an estimated $960 million Powerball jackpot and players across the country are waiting to see if there’s a big winner.

The winning numbers announced were: 19, 30, 37, 44, 46 and red Powerball 22.

Lottery official usually take several hours to determine if any player has won the giant jackpot.

The $960 million jackpot is for a sole winner who opts for payment through an annuity, doled out over 30 years. Winners almost always take the cash option, which for Saturday’s drawing would be an estimated $441.4 million.

Those winnings would be subject to federal taxes, and many states also tax lottery winnings.

The jackpot now ranks as the world’s ninth-largest lottery prize of all time, behind earlier prizes in the Powerball and Mega Millions games that all topped $1 billion.

The jackpot has grown so large because there have been 29 consecutive drawings without a big winner, dating back to July 19. Powerball’s terrible odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes becoming ever larger as they repeatedly roll over when no one wins.

The largest jackpot was a $2.04 billion Powerball prize hit by a player in California in November 2022.

In most states, a Powerball ticket costs $2 and players can select their own numbers or leave the task to a computer.

Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.