The jackpot for Wednesday night's Powerball jackpot is up to $425 million, the fourth largest jackpot ever offered in the United States.

Powerball tickets for Wednesday
Powerball tickets for Wednesday (Dan Alexander, Townsquare Media NJ)
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The jackpot has an annuity value of $244.7 million. There was no winner Saturday for the multi-state game for  the eighth straight drawing in a row.

If no one wins tonight's jackpot, “We would be in world record territory” for the next drawing, on Saturday, Chuck Strutt, head of the Multi-State Lottery Association, told NBCNews.
Your odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 175,223,510 according to the Powerball website. There’s a 1 in 31.85 chance that a ticket holder could win something else including the smallest prize of $4.

Why Bigger Jackpots?

A jackpot of this size is likely to draw more players meaning it will likely grow again before Wednesday night.

The changes Powerball organizers made to the game last year are coming to roost in the billowing jackpots, with Wednesday's pushing into record territory less than three months after Gloria C. Mackenzie of Zephyrhills, Fla., claimed the biggest Powerball prize ever.

Powerball tickets doubled in price to $2 in January 2012 as part of a plan to help jackpots grow bigger, faster. And when the jackpots reach astronomical levels, ticket sales take off, with jackpots following close behind.

The drawing is Wednesday night at 11 p.m. and can be seen on WABC TV and WPVI TV and on the Powerball website. Text NEWS to 89000 to be the first to know when the numbers are drawn.

The multi-state lottery is played in 42 states including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware.

Highest Lottery Jackpots In US History

1. $656.0 million, Mega Millions, March 30, 2012 (3 tickets from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland)

2. $590.5 million, Powerball, May 18, 2013 (1 ticket from Florida)

3. $587.5 million, Powerball, Nov. 28, 2012 (2 tickets from Arizona and Missouri)

4. $400 million, Powerball, (drawing scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 7; jackpot could grow)

5. $390.0 million, Mega Millions, March 6, 2007 (2 tickets from Georgia and New Jersey)

6. $380.0 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 4, 2011 (2 tickets from Idaho and Washington)

7. $365.0 million, Powerball, Feb. 18, 2006 (1 ticket from Nebraska)

8. $363.0 million, The Big Game, May 9, 2000 (2 tickets from Illinois and Michigan)

9. $340.0 million, Powerball, Oct. 19, 2005 (1 ticket from Oregon)

10. $338.3 million, Powerball, March 23, 2013 (1 ticket from New Jersey)

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