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No winner of Powerball jackpot, prize grows to $650 million
Gazette Des Moines Bureau
Aug. 20, 2017 10:39 am, Updated: Aug. 20, 2017 10:17 pm
CLIVE - No one matched the winning numbers in Saturday's Powerball drawing. That means the jackpot at stake in Wednesday's drawing will be at least $650 million annuity, or $411.7 million lump-sum value, according to lottery officials.
That is the second-largest prize in the history of the Powerball game and the third-largest jackpot ever offered in North America. If strong sales continue as we have seen in recent days, lottery officials say it is likely that the jackpot estimate will be increased before Wednesday's drawing.
Overall, Iowa Lottery players won nearly 50,000 prizes in Saturday night's drawing. Strong sales nationwide pushed the Powerball jackpot to $541.9 million annuity, or $343.2 million lump-sum option.
The Iowa winners included one ticket that came within one number of having at least a share of the jackpot.
A total of 49,710 plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes ranging from $4 up to $50,000.
The $50,000-winning ticket was purchased at Hy-Vee, 5050 Edgewood Rd. in Cedar Rapids. It matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball.
Iowa Lottery players bought nearly $2.7 million in Powerball tickets for Saturday's drawing, including more than $1.4 million in tickets on Saturday alone.
The winning numbers in Saturday's Powerball jackpot drawing were: 17-19-39-43-68 and Powerball 13. The Power Play number was 4.
The odds of winning the jackpot in Powerball are about 1 in 292.2 million. By tracking sales, lottery officials can estimate how many of the possible combinations have been purchased for a particular drawing. About 32 percent of all the possible combinations were purchased in Saturday's drawing.
'It only takes one ticket to win,” said Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich. 'Have fun playing Powerball, but play within your means and don't get in over your head. The fun of our games is that you can do a lot of dreaming for just a few dollars.”