Powerball jackpot 10th biggest ever, as 8 tickets just miss
Powerball has its tenth largest annuity jackpot ever, $330 million, because no one matched all the numbers drawn Wednesday night.
They were 36, 44, 49, 52 and 57, with a Powerball of 1.
The "real" jackpot -- the cash payout almost every winner takes -- rose to $189 million, also among the game's Top 10.
Pennsylvania sold two tickets that missed only the Powerball, winning $1 million. Also matching the first five were tickets sold in New York, West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, Florida and California. Unlike the others, California will pay out $723,452, under that state's pari-mutuel system.
Even more frustrated have to be the 42 folks who missed only one of the first five numbers. They defied odds of 1 chance in 649,000, but don't come close to a six-figure payday. Thirty-nine get $10,000 each, while three get $20,000 apiece, for also having the Power Play multiplier option.
Other games frequently offer better odds if you're looking for anything less than the jackpot.
With a single ticket having just 1 chance in 175 million, the jackpot could rise again. Powerball has topped the $400 million mark three times, all since November 2012.
See: "Biggest jackpots in U.S. lottery history."
Mega Millions. The jackpot went up to $139 million, $76 million for the cash, on Tuesday night because nobody overcome the game's staggering odds of 1 in 258.9 million of winning with a single ticket.
Indeed, nobody even matched the first five numbers, a feat that's a 1 in 18 million shot. (Powerball's more favorable for winning $1 million -- 1 in 5 million -- though only Mega Millions through its Megaplier has second prizes that can reach $3 million to $5 million.)
The numbers were 43, 64, 67, 71 and 73, with a Mega Ball of 4.
























