Powerball Grows To $73 Million

The Powerball jackpot continues to grow to the delight of players all over America. Even though the grand prize was not hit Wednesday evening, 446,926 players across the nation won a total of more than $4.2 million in prizes in America's favorite game.

Because no one correctly matched all six numbers the jackpot will grow to an estimated $73 million for Saturday night's drawing. The cash option for the Saturday, May 6th drawing will be an estimated $32.6 million. The numbers drawn Wednesday were 4, 6, 19, 38, 42 and the Powerball was 37. The Power Play multiplier was 2. Three lucky players in the states of Arizona (2), and Kansas (1), correctly matched the 5 white numbers and won $200,000. Two additional winners of that prize category also in Kansas wisely purchase the Power Play option for another $1 and had their winnings multiplied by 2 for a total win of $400,000.

Twenty-Three players matched 4 white numbers plus the Powerball and won $10,000. Six additional winners of that prize category also wisely purchased the Power Play option that multiplied their win 2 times for a total of $20,000!

More than 86,000 winning Powerball players multiplied their prize by 2 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.

The lotteries have sold approximately $2.5 billion in Powerball tickets so far in fiscal year 2006. That translates into approximately $725 million for worthwhile state projects.