Jan. 09--The largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history has gotten even bigger, as officials announced Saturday that the Powerball payout has risen to a staggering $900 million.
Yet, even with brisk ticket sales, just 75% of all possible six-digit combinations have been selected, officials said.
On Friday alone, California players purchased about $37 million in tickets. Saturday's sales were expected to be on par -- or higher. As of 1 p.m., Californians had scooped up $17.2 million in Powerball tickets, officials said.
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In California, about 80 cents of every $2 ticket sold goes toward education.
Nationwide, more than $1 billion in Powerball tickets have been sold so far, lottery officials said.
Saturday afternoon, officials said the jackpot was not expected to increase any further prior to the draw.
"There is still a chance tonight's jackpot could be revised to slightly more than $900 million, but we won't know until tomorrow morning," officials said in a statement.
If no player hits Saturday's big prize, officials estimate that the winnings for next Wednesday's draw will reach $1.3 billion.
Meanwhile, the massive jackpot has forced lottery officials to grapple with a few new logistical problems.
The window signs that hang in gas stations and convenient stores displaying the size of the jackpots only go to $999 million. The signs will remain stuck there if the jackpot rolls over, said California Lottery spokesman Alex Traverso. The same goes for screens at gas pumps.
On the lottery's mobile app, though, a $1.3-billion jackpot would display as "1,300 million," Traverso said.
"They're nice problems to have," he added. "We have a huge jackpot and people are excited, but you don't really prepare for this on a normal basis.
"We're making the history right now."
The Powerball game is played in 44 states and three U.S. territories
To win, a participant must match five numbers between 1 and 69 and a sixth number between 1 and 26 that is drawn separately. The odds of this happening are 1 in 292.2 million.
If someone did hit the right combination for the $900-million jackpot, they would have the option of taking a lump sum payment of $558 million.
The largest previous Powerball jackpot was $590.5 million, won when a single ticket purchased in Florida matched all six numbers in 2013.
The country's largest previous lottery jackpot came about a year earlier, when the owners of three tickets in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland split a $656-million Mega Millions jackpot.
Lotto fever has gripped the country for the past several days, sending players in swarms to ticket vendors that they deem lucky.
At the end of a nearly 30-person line at the Bluebird Liquor store in Hawthorne, Mark Willis clutched his blue lottery ticket holder. The lettering on the thin plastic booklet, which he calls his "book of dreams," was faded.
Inside the holder's pockets, atop his lottery tickets, he had photos and crinkled newspaper clippings of his dream purchases: a Bentley, Rolex, Gulfstream IV jet (he'd name it "Angel"), beachside mansion and glamorously dressed model to represent Gladys Knight concert tickets.
"That's a lot of money," the Leimert Park video producer said Friday of what was then an $800-million jackpot. "You could have your whole life changed."
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