DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The estimated jackpot for Wednesday night's Powerball drawing has soared to $450 million thanks to strong sales.
Multi-State Lottery Association officials on Tuesday increased the expected prize from $400 million because of fast sales for the largest lottery jackpot in nearly a year.
No one has won Powerball's biggest prize since Nov. 4. The jackpot now is the sixth-largest ever in North America, and if there is no winner after Wednesday night's drawing, the prize will keep climbing.
The biggest jackpot was a $656 million Mega Millions prize won in 2012. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize.
Besides Florida, Powerball is played in 43 other states as well as the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Locally, in Southwest Florida, Lotto players stopping by a 7-Eleven in Cape Coral, Wednesday, say they have plenty of plans if they win it.
