No winners, Saturday Powerball jackpot nears $600M

With nearly two months since one of the national lottery jackpots reached the billion-dollar range, the Wednesday Powerball drawing offered a top prize at least halfway there with a $550 million jackpot, $266 million for a lump sum.

No entrant matched the winning numbers of 22-30-37-44-45 with a Powerball of 18.

The Saturday drawing will be worth an estimated $596 million, or $288.2 million all cash.

In was July 19 when a tiny neighborhood store in downtown Los Angeles not far from skid row sold the winning ticket for a Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $1.08 billion, the sixth-largest prize in U.S. history and the third-largest in the history of the game.

The winner has not been made public.

Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot — no matter the size — are near 1 in 292.2 million. Chances of taking home Mega Millions’ top prize are even lower, at about 1 in 302.6 million.

One winner in Florida won the $1.58 billion Mega Millions drawing in early July, the third-largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history.

Tickets for each lottery cost $2 with an option to multiply any prize except the jackpot.

Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com.