Excitement is mounting amongst Powerball ticket buyers after Saturday night’s draw saw no one having all the matching numbers resulting in the Jackpot rising to a whopping $250 million.
The price of Powerball tickets doubled from $1 to $2 a ticket on January 15, 2012, and while some players are happy with the new changes which were designed to create larger jackpots and better chances of becoming a multimillionaire, others are unhappy with the price hike.
Powerball, which began in 1987 as Lotto America, is played in 42 states. The name was changed to Powerball in 1992 with the goal to pick five numbers from 1 to 59 and the Powerball from 1 to 35.
Despite the fact that the jackpot was not hit on Saturday night, several instant millionaires were created over the weekend with two ticket holders who purchased their tickets in Colorado and Florida each winning $2 million after matching the first five numbers and having the Power Play prize boosting option.
The draw for the US Powerball, which is a combined jackpot game and cash game, takes place every Wednesday and Saturday night at one minute to 11. Players have the opportunity to purchase their Powerball lottery tickets up until 59 minutes before the draw and with Wednesday night’s draw offering a jackpot of $250 million, it is little wonder that throngs of people are rushing out to snatch up tickets for the draw.
The highest Powerball jackpot ever won was in 2006 when eight co-workers from a Nebraska meat-packing plant bought tickets and split the price of $365 million.
