No ticket matched all six numbers in the Powerball drawing on 1/9, causing the jackpot to climb to $1.3 billion for the next drawing. The winning numbers were 8, 23, 25, 40, and 53, with a Powerball of 5.

The Powerball jackpot has been unclaimed since 31/5. If won in the 3/9 drawing, it would be the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot in history.

The winner can choose between an annuity paid over 30 years or a lump-sum cash payment before taxes, currently estimated at $589 million for the $1.3 billion prize.

A Powerball advertisement displays the estimated billion jackpot at a store in Tennessee on 29/8. Photo: *AP*

Powerball is a lottery game administered by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). Introduced in 1992 to replace Lotto America, it is played in 45 states, with drawings held every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

Players select five numbers from 1 to 69. A sixth number, the Powerball, is chosen from a separate set of numbers from 1 to 26. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, far less than the odds of being struck by lightning. The jackpot starts at $20 million and grows if no one wins.

The largest Powerball jackpot in history was $2.04 billion, sold in California in 2022.

Duc Trung (*AP, CNN*)