The buildup continues – literally, and metaphorically speaking.
Nobody has been lucky enough to win the Powerball jackpot in a while, and now the grand prize for this weekend’s drawing is up to $629 million, with a cash option being an estimated $295.4 million.
The Powerball drawing coming up on Saturday, Nov. 22 will be the 33rd since the jackpot last hit Sept. 6, 2025, when tickets sold in Missouri and Texas split a $1.787 billion grand prize.
According to a release from the state lottery office, one $50,000 prize was won in Wednesday’s drawing on a ticket sold in in Rowley, Massachusetts.
And don’t look now, but the Megabucks jackpot is hitting an all-time high under its new format. That drawing will also happen this Saturday.
Do you want to play Powerball or Megabucks for some big money?
Why not try both?
Here’s how.
Drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
You can check the Massachusetts Lottery website, or the Powerball website for the drawing results.
Powerball tickets are $2 each and can be purchased until 9:50 p.m. on the day of a drawing.
The Powerball website states that, “the overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.”
To play Powerball, you have to buy a ticket for $2. You can do this at a variety of locations, including your local convenience store, gas station, or grocery store. In some states, Powerball tickets can be bought online.
Once you have your ticket, you need to pick six numbers. Five of them will be white balls with numbers from 1 to 69. The red Powerball ranges from 1 to 26. People can also add a “Power Play” for $1, which increases the winning for all non-jackpot prizes.
The “Power Play” multiplier can multiply winnings by: 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, or 10X.
If you are feeling unlucky or want the computer to do the work for you, the “Quick Pick” option is available, where computer-generated numbers will be printed on a Powerball ticket. To win the jackpot, players must match all five white balls in any order and the red Powerball.
If no one wins the jackpot for a given drawing, the cash prize will continue to tick up.
To win, match one of the nine ways to win:
According to a release, tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“More than half of all proceeds from the sale of a Powerball ticket remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold,” the release states. “Since its first drawing in 1992, the Powerball game has helped generate more than $36 billion for good causes supported by U.S. lotteries.”
The Megabucks jackpot for Saturday’s drawing is an estimated $7.5 million, with a $5.15 million cash option, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery.
“This is the game’s largest jackpot since the game was redesigned in 2023 to bring more value to players including better odds of winning, higher average jackpots, bigger payouts for all non-jackpot prizes as well as including an additional third weekly drawing,” the lottery office stated in a release.
The release added, “Prior to this, the game’s largest jackpot under the new game matrix was $6.13 million which was hit on (Jan. 27, 2025) on a ticket purchased in Rockland, Massachusetts.
Megabucks tickets are $2 each and can only be purchased in Massachusetts.
Tickets for this Saturday’s drawing can be purchased until 9 p.m.
The drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 9 p.m.