After 38 drawings without a big winner, the Powerball jackpot is up to a near-record-breaking $1.2 billion.
The next drawing is set to take place Wednesday night, after Monday's drawing once again saw no tickets sold with all 6 numbers. The $1 billion jackpot for that drawing was only the second time in history the prize money soared that high.
The winning numbers for Monday's drawing were 19, 13, 39, 59 and 36 with a Powerball of 13.
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Two tickets in California narrowly missed the Powerball jackpot on Monday, matching five numbers and only missing the Powerball.
One of those was sold at 777 MARKET at 1900 South La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles' Mid-Wilshire area. Another was sold at the McChevron in the San Joaquin Valley community of Visalia.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone claimed the prizes, worth more than $790,000.
How is Powerball played?
Winning the May prize requires you to match all six drawn numbers. That results in a chance of winning 1 in 292,201,338.
You can also earn money by hitting less than six numbers. The lowest amount you can earn is $4.
Each ticket costs $2, though you can pay an additional $1 for the Power Play option, which multiplies non-jackpot winnings by two, three, four, five, or 10 times the amount. An exception to this is the Power Play prize for hitting five numbers, as it always doubles to $2 million if you win.
Powerball is played in 45 states of the country, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Ilsands. The lottery is not played in Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.
What Are the Powerball Odds?
Even as more people buy tickets in the hopes of winning, the odds remain the same: 1 in 292.2 million.
It's slightly more likely that you'll win this Powerball jackpot than the odds were of winning this summer's $1.28 billion Mega Millions prize.
But it's still more likely that you'll get struck by lightning, or randomly select an active NASA astronaut from the entire living U.S. population, than it is that you'll become a billionaire after tonight's Powerball drawing.
The odds of winning also don't change whether the ticket buyer uses Quick Pick or selects their own numbers, though Quick Pick is more common.
Despite having equal odds, both options have their pros and cons.
Playing Quick Pick is the fastest way to play, but leaves the possibility open for repeat numbers and combinations.
Selecting your own numbers gives you complete control over your numbers, but can take longer to play in stores, especially when the jackpot reaches enticing numbers for the non-regulars to want to participate.
