Powerball surges to $400 million
Published 9:14 am Monday, February 17, 2014
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Without a Powerball winner this weekend, the prize has climbed to $400 million — one of the largest in U.S. lottery history.
Lottery officials said no one matched all six numbers for Saturday’s $330.8 million drawing.
The next drawing is Wednesday, and will be the fourth-biggest Powerball jackpot and sixth-highest lottery prize of all time — at least $400 million or $227.8 million in a lump sum.
Large jackpots tend to boost ticket sales and make it more likely the prize will be shared, and changes to the Powerball and Mega Millions games have the jackpots reaching fantasy-inducing levels more often.
In the case of Powerball, officials increased the ticket prices from $1 to $2 in January 2012, and raised starting jackpots to $40 million. The current jackpot began its ascent at the end of 2013.