Powerball jackpot rises to $1.5 billion; big winners in NJ, Philadelphia

Saturday night's drawing will be the third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

Thursday, November 3, 2022

The bad news is that no one won Wednesday night's huge $1.2 billion Powerball jackpot.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The bad news is that no one won Wednesday night's huge $1.2 billion Powerball jackpot.

The good news is that means the prize has grown even larger to $1.5 billion ahead of the next drawing Saturday night. That is the third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

But there's even more good news. Three tickets in New Jersey matched all five white balls. Two winners will receive a $1 million prize. The third winner included the Power Play option for an additional $1 per play and will get $2 million.

Those tickets were sold at the following locations:

Monmouth County ($2,000,000): Raceway Matawan, 3961 Route 516 and Higgins Rd., Monmouth;

Bergen County ($1,000,000): The Market at Saddle Brook, 487 Fairlawn Pkwy., Saddle Brook; and,

Middlesex County ($1,000,000): Wawa #8406, 580 US Highway 1, Edison.

In addition, 16 tickets matched four of the five white balls and the Powerball drawn winning $50,000. One of those tickets was purchased with Power Play, multiplying the prize to $100,000. Those tickets were sold at the following locations:

$100,000:

Passaic County: Jackpocket, 355 Warwick Tpke., Hewitt.

$50,000:

Burlington County: Quick Shop Food Market, 601 Beverly Rancocas Rd., Willingboro;

Camden County: Acme #992, 700 Haddonfield Berlin Rd., Voorhees;

Camden County: Acme #992, 700 Haddonfield Berlin Rd., Voorhees;

Essex County: Cedar Grove Liquors, 597 Pompton Ave., Cedar Grove;

Gloucester County: Wawa #961, 1700 Center Square Rd., Logan Township;

Hudson County: Krauszer's Food Store, 787 Kearny Ave., Kearny;

Hudson County: Jersey Deli Store 11 LLC, 7217 Bergenline Ave., North Bergen;

Hunterdon County: Shell Food Mart, 601 Route 12, Flemington;

Mercer County: Speedy Mart, 59 State Rd., Princeton;

Monmouth County: Stop & Shop #815, 4861 Route 9, Howell;

Monmouth County: Wegmans Manalapan, 55 Route 9 South, Manalapan;

Monmouth County: Wawa #917, 2432 Highway #35, Manasquan;

Monmouth County: Country Farms, 420 State Route 34, Colts Neck;

Morris County: 7-Eleven #39300, 99 Ridgedale Ave., Cedar Knolls; and,

Ocean County: Wine Emporium, 1205 Richmond Ave., Point Pleasant Beach.

In Philadelphia, three tickets matched four of the five white balls.

The tickets were sold at these retailers:

Wawa, 2600 Penrose Avenue, Philadelphia;

ShopRite, 6901 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia; and

Eddie's General Store, 2849 Holme Avenue, Philadelphia.

Each store will receive a $500 bonus for selling a winning ticket.

The numbers drawn Wednesday night were: 2, 11, 22, 35, 60 and the red Powerball 23.

No one has won the top Powerball prize since Aug. 3, making for 39 consecutive drawings without anyone matching all six numbers.

What's behind three months of lottery futility? It's simple math. The odds of winning the jackpot are an abysmal 1 in 292.2 million.

It is because of those long odds that the grand prize has grown so large.

The new $1.5 billion prize is actually for winners who opt for an annuity, paid out annually over 29 years. Nearly all winners choose cash, which for Saturday's drawing would be $745.9 million.

The biggest all-time lottery jackpot was a $1.5863 billion Powerball prize in 2016, with the top prize shared by three winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.

Powerball is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million and tickets are $2 apiece.