Powerball’s Monday night drawing, which was supposed to take place at 10:59 p.m. ET, was postponed due to a “technical glitch.” No time was given for when the drawing would take place, but after the problem was fixed, the winning numbers would be posted on powerball.com and a recording of the drawing would be accessible on the Powerball YouTube channel.
A tweet from the California Lottery said that the delay was caused by a “participating lottery that needed more time to finish the required security processes.”
The California Lottery says that the drawing will happen under the watchful eye of lottery security officials and independent auditors once all of the necessary security steps have been taken.
A representative for the California Lottery told CBS News that the problem did not start in the Golden State.
After no one won the top prize in Saturday’s drawing, the Powerball jackpot climbed to a new record of $1.9 billion over the weekend.
Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights are when the Powerball is drawn live from the Florida lottery draw studio in Tallahassee.
Over the course of the last three months, anticipation for the lottery’s estimated prize fund has progressively increased as dozens of Powerball rounds have passed without a single winner. The last jackpot was awarded in early August to a winning ticket purchased in Pennsylvania, and the reward pool has been growing steadily since then.
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Powerball: How to Play
Powerball tickets, which cost $2 per play, are available for purchase through lottery officials in 45 states across the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. Although the odds of winning any reward in a Powerball drawing are approximately 1 in 25, the odds of winning the jackpot are far smaller, at approximately 1 in 292 million, according to officials.
Each Powerball play slip features six numbers, with the player required to select five numbers from 1 to 69 and one number from 1 to 26. Those who would rather not pick their own numbers can have the lottery machine do so automatically.
Players who hold tickets with a number sequence that is only slightly similar to the one disclosed at the drawing are awarded a consolation prize. All six numbers on a ticket must be matched, plus the Powerball, for the jackpot to be won.
This past Saturday’s Powerball drawing was the fortieth one held since the last jackpot winner in August. In the absence of a jackpot winner in Monday night’s drawing, this current stretch would set a new record for the longest period in Powerball history without a jackpot winner.
The lottery said that Monday’s Powerball jackpot is worth about $929.1 million in cash. The most common way to get a prize is through an annuity, which is paid out over 29 years in 30 equal payments. However, winners can choose to get a lump sum payment instead, in which case taxes will be taken out of the payment.