UPDATE on Friday, Jan. 22: The jackpot for tonight's Mega Millions drawing has been raised even further, now at an estimated $1 billion annuity. The new details are included here.
The long, fun roll for the Powerball® jackpot has ended, while the giant prize in Mega Millions® is still in the stratosphere.
Last night’s $731.1 million Powerball jackpot was won with a ticket purchased in Maryland. But the Mega Millions jackpot continues on, currently standing at an estimated $1 billion annuity, $739.6 million lump-sum option for that game’s next drawing at 10 p.m. Friday.
Drawing Details, Iowa Tickets That Won Prizes
A total of 41,368 plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes in last night’s Powerball drawing, ranging from $4 up to $50,000.
The $50,000-winning ticket was just one number away from having a share of Wednesday’s jackpot, matching four of the first five numbers and the Powerball. That ticket was purchased at Casey’s, 1200 Fifth Ave. NE in Independence.
The winning numbers in last night’s Powerball drawing were: 40-53-60-68-69 and Powerball 22. The Power Play number was 3.
In Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing, 35,826 plays in Iowa won prizes, so between the two games, Iowa players have won prizes on more than 77,000 plays so far just this week.
Iowa Lottery players bought more than $2.4 million in Powerball tickets for last night’s drawing, including more than $1 million in tickets yesterday alone. Given the ongoing COVID-19 health emergency, those figures are understandably both well down from sales totals during other recent times with giant jackpots.
The average Powerball purchase yesterday in Iowa remained about $6, or three plays per ticket. Lottery officials are glad to see that Iowans are having fun playing but haven’t gone overboard.
Huge Numbers For Easy Picks
The vast majority of tickets being purchased in both games are easy picks, meaning that the players opted to have the lottery terminal randomly select the numbers involved. More than 91 percent of the plays purchased for last night’s Powerball drawing were easy picks, while nearly 94 percent of the tickets purchased for Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing were easy picks.
The odds of winning are the same for every ticket in the games, whether the player buys an easy pick or chooses their own numbers. There are more easy-pick winners simply because most of the tickets being purchased are easy picks.
Anecdotes About Less Pool Play
A new phenomenon being seen in Iowa during this big jackpot run appears to be an offshoot of so many people working from home during the COVID-19 health emergency.
Anecdotally, Iowa Lottery retailers report they’re not seeing as many players buying tickets in office pools or with groups of friends and neighbors. Remaining socially distanced means a lot of folks aren’t gathering in those central spots where they would have joined in pool play.
The ‘Longest Roll’
The length of time that a jackpot continues to grow is often referred to as a roll, meaning that it keeps rolling without being hit. Powerball just ended its longest roll ever: Wednesday’s drawing was the 36th since that game’s jackpot had been won on Sept. 16 with a ticket purchased in New York.
The Mega Millions jackpot also is on its longest roll – and it’s still going! Friday’s drawing will be the 37th since the Mega Millions jackpot was last won on Sept. 15 with a ticket purchased in Wisconsin.
What’s That About ‘Coverage’?
By tracking sales, lottery officials can estimate how many of all the possible combinations have been purchased for a particular drawing. The coverage estimate for Friday’s Mega Millions drawing is about 40 percent. (The odds of winning the jackpot in Mega Millions are about 1 in 302.6 million because that’s how many ways the numbers in the game can be combined in a play.)
I agree with Gordon, More winners would definitely be more fun and generate more interest in playing lotto games thus generating more sales, and sales drive all businesses.
And the reason bigger jackpots pull more players to play is due to media exposure and hype, not people checking the jackpot amounts every week and saying the themselves...
"Hey,The jackpot is really big this week,I think I'll buy a ticket"
Posted by: Kevin Pidima | January 25, 2021 at 06:03 PM
40-53-60-68-69 and Powerball 22. The Power Play number was 3.
Posted by: Ray Main | January 23, 2021 at 12:25 AM
Hi, Gordon. I've addressed that question in earlier blog posts, and I'll share the details again here as well. Overall sales in the games would appear demonstrate a different mindset. Sales have always followed the jackpots up, so it seems that a whole bunch of folks do want a chance at a giant prize. And, the rules in Powerball and Mega Millions don’t speak to the jackpots being divided up. Lotteries couldn’t just decide to do something different this time around. People have already purchased tickets under the current rules. Please know that we do pay attention to input and ideas, so please keep up the conversation.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | January 21, 2021 at 10:41 AM
Hi, Ronald. Those details are in the blog, under the section called "Drawing Details, Iowa Tickets That Won Prizes." I've included the details here as well: The winning numbers in last night’s Powerball drawing (Jan. 20) were: 40-53-60-68-69 and Powerball 22. The Power Play number was 3.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | January 21, 2021 at 10:24 AM
Why not draw more ticket winner numbers when the jackpot is over say one hundred million dollars so that more people can win !!! No one person needs 750 million dollars!! Just think about how many more lives would be helped if you had more winners!!!
Posted by: Gordon Goettsch | January 21, 2021 at 10:22 AM