Powerball jackpot will be biggest ever in U.S., officials say
No winning tickets were sold for Wednesday night's estimated $500 million Powerball jackpot, so Saturday's will be an estimated $675 million -- the biggest jackpot in U.S. history, Texas lottery officials tweeted early Thursday:
The nationwide results were confirmed to CBS News by Multi-State Lottery spokesperson Sue Dooley.
The jackpot climbed to the estimated $500 million before Wednesday night's drawing since more people across the country bought a chance at the biggest prize in nearly a year.
The winning numbers Wednesday night were 2, 11, 47, 62 and 63, with the Powerball of 17.
The jackpot had gone untouched for 17 consecutive drawings, last hit on November 4.
Wednesday's jackpot was the sixth-largest offered in North America and the biggest since a $564.1 million Powerball prize shared by players from North Carolina, Texas and Puerto Rico last February.
The biggest jackpot ever had been $590.5 million, which was up for grabs in the drawing of May 18, 2013, CBS Boston reported.
Powerball is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
The odds of winning are one in 292.2 million.