Powerball jackpot reaches record $700M

TALLAHASSEE , Fla., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Saturday's Powerball jackpot crossed the $700 million threshold Thursday, the largest in U.S. history, after no one had all the winning numbers in Wednesday's lottery drawing.

Wednesday's numbers -- for a jackpot of $524 million -- were 2, 11, 47, 62 and 63, with a Powerball number of 17 and a multiplier of 3. Although there was one "Match 5 Power Play" winner of $2 million, several "Match 5" winners of $1 million in 12 states and more than 7 million winners of other, smaller amounts, no one hit the jackpot. The dollar figure of Saturday's big prize thus rolls over, and increases with every ticket sold until Saturday.

Wednesday's payout, had it occurred, could have had an estimated pre-tax cash value of more than $300 million if taken as a lump sum, or more if the option of a 29-year annuity was chosen. The estimated lump sum payment for Saturday's drawing is currently $428.4 million.

A winner Saturday will likely enter lottery lore, which includes the 2015 winner of the California Lottery who lost the winning ticket and had the $1 million prize donated to the state's schools; the thief who stole sunglasses from a car in Oregon last year, neglecting to notice a winning Powerball ticket worth $1 million beneath them; and a Michigan woman whose winning ticket sat for months in a pile of mail.

Powerball is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.