Ticket Sales Push Powerball Jackpot to Record $600 Million

05/17/2013

ALBUQUERQUE – Players rushing to buy tickets for Saturday’s Powerball drawing have driven the jackpot from $550 million to a record $600 million.

Since Wednesday’s drawing, the jackpot has climbed from $475 million to $550 million to $600 million. The jackpot’s cash option is $376.9 million.

“Players across New Mexico are getting their tickets early and dreaming about what it would be like to wake up Sunday morning as a multi-millionaire,” said Tom Romero, New Mexico Lottery CEO.

Romero said players have until 8 p.m. MT Saturday to buy tickets for the drawing at 8:59 p.m.

How to Play Powerball

Players choose five numbers from 1 to 59 and one Powerball number from 1 to 35. Players can get a “quick pick,” numbers chosen randomly by the lottery’s gaming system, or select their own numbers. Each wager costs $2.

In addition to the jackpot, there are eight prize levels from $4 to $1 million. The game’s Power Play® option multiples all non-jackpot prizes and will double the $1 million prize to $2 million automatically. Power Play costs an additional $1 per play per drawing.

Record Jackpots

Powerball is played in 45 lotteries. In November, players from Arizona and Missouri won the then record Powerball jackpot of $587.5 million.

The world record jackpot of $656 million is from the Mega Millions game from March 2012. It was shared by players in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.

New Mexico’s record Powerball jackpot is $206.9 million. It was won by a pool of nine players from the Roswell area in September 2008.

The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are approximately 1 in 175 million. The overall odds of winning a Powerball prize are approximately 1 in 32.

Since 1996, the New Mexico Lottery has raised $560 million for education and more than 82,600 students have attended college on Legislative Lottery Scholarships.

More information about Legislative Lottery Scholarships is available at www.nmlottery.com.

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