Powerball continues climb, Mega Millions jackpot soars to $900 million

No one won the big prize in Powerball on Wednesday while the prize for Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot crept past $900 million earlier in the day.

The winning numbers for Powerball, a comparatively meager sum of just $345 million, were 3-57-64-68-69 and a Powerball of 15. One person in Florida won $2 million, while tickets in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Kentucky each were worth $1 million.

The pot rises to $430 million for Saturday’s drawing. The cash payout is $248 million.

But the record numbers are being left to the Mega Millions jackpot, set to be drawn on Friday. The projected prize would be the second-largest payout in U.S. lottery history. A lone winner taking the cash lump sum would receive about $513 million.

The only larger lottery payout in history than Friday’s $900 million total was a Powerball drawing for $1.59 billion in January 2016. Three winners split that total.

The Mega Millions numbers drawn on Tuesday were 3, 45, 49, 61, 69, and a Mega Ball of 9. Nine people matched all five white balls. Eight won $1 million each, and another also got the Megaplier to win $5 million.

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Before the drawing Tuesday, the previous Mega Millions record jackpot was $656 million, which was shared by winners from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland in March 2012.

“It’s always a thrill to have both jackpots rolling, but there’s an extra spark now with Mega Millions reaching a new record,” Gordon Medenica, Mega Millions lead director and Maryland’s lottery and gaming director said in a statement on Tuesday. “Everyone is talking about the jackpot and running out to buy tickets for tonight’s drawing.”

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The Mega Millions jackpot has skyrocketed since the July 24 drawing when a group of 11 coworkers in Santa Clara County, California, shared a $543 million jackpot, the game’s fourth-largest.

More than $1 billion in combined potential prize money remains up for grabs, with tonight’s Powerball prize estimated at $345 million — or a one-time cash prize of nearly $200 million.