Powerball Jackpot Jumps To $88 Million

The Powerball jackpot continues to get bigger and bigger. Even though the grand prize was not hit Wednesday evening, 503,287 players across the nation won a total of more than $7.9 million in prizes.

Also, two lucky players in North Dakota and Oklahoma won $1 million each playing the Powerball add-on feature of Power Play. Their normal prize for matching 5 white numbers of $200,000 was multiplied 5 times due to the Power Play option.

Because no one correctly matched all six numbers the jackpot will grow to an estimated $88 million.

The cash option for the Saturday, March 18th drawing will be an estimated $41.6 million.

The numbers drawn Wednesday were 7, 12, 36, 48, 54 and the Powerball was 37. The Power Play multiplier was 5.

Five lucky players in the states of Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina correctly matched the 5 white numbers and won $200,000. The two players in North Dakota and Oklahoma not only won at that prize level but had it multiplied by 5 for $1 million each.

Twenty players matched 4 white numbers plus the Powerball and won $10,000. 10 additional winners of that prize category also wisely purchased the Power Play option that multiplied their win 5 times for a total of $50,000.

More than 100,000 winning Powerball players multiplied their prize by 5 Wednesday. They were able to do that by purchasing the Power Play option for one dollar. With Power Play you multiply any winnings from 2-5 times, except for the jackpot. At the beginning of each drawing a wheel is spun to select that night's multiplier. For a limited time during the current "Power Play 10X" promotion, all prizes (except the jackpot) can be multiplied up to 10 times for the same $1 Power Play cost.