A $1.25 billion Powerball jackpot could hand one player a life-changing windfall — and some serious holiday spending money — with the next drawing set for Wednesday night, just nine days before Christmas.
The prize climbed after no ticket matched all six numbers in Monday’s drawing. Those winning numbers were white balls 23, 35, 59, 63, and 68, with a red Powerball of 2 and a Power Play multiplier of 4. With no jackpot winner, the top prize rolled over yet again.
Wednesday’s 1.25 billion Powerball jackpot is the second-largest Powerball prize of 2025, trailing only the $1.787 billion jackpot won on Sept. 6 by two tickets sold in Missouri and Texas.
Back-to-back billion-dollar jackpots
This run marks just the second time in Powerball history that the game has generated back-to-back billion-dollar jackpots.
In all, there have been only 13 lottery jackpots in U.S. history above the $1 billion mark — and 10 of those have come since 2021, reflecting both huge ticket sales and the way modern lottery rules allow jackpots to snowball when no one hits the top prize over dozens of consecutive drawings.
The largest Powerball, and the largest lottery prize ever, was $2.04 billion, won by a single ticket in California on Nov. 7, 2022. That winner chose the lump sum, instantly becoming one of the biggest lottery winners on record.
Long jackpot drought fuels massive prize
No one has matched all six numbers in Powerball since Sept. 6, when the $1.787 billion jackpot was split between winning tickets in Missouri and Texas. Since then, there have been 42 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner.
Each time the top prize rolls, a portion of ticket sales gets added to the pot, which explains why it has swelled to a $1.25 billion Powerball jackpot just before the holidays.
Even when nobody wins the grand prize, plenty of smaller prizes are paid out. In Saturday’s drawing — when the jackpot first crossed the $1 billion mark — the numbers were 1, 28, 31, 57, and 58 with a Powerball of 16. While there was no jackpot match, two tickets in Pennsylvania and North Carolina won $2 million each, and five other tickets scored $1 million.
Annuity vs lump sum — and the odds of winning
If a single ticket hits Wednesday’s 1.25 billion Powerball jackpot, the winner will face the usual choice between a long stream of annual payments or a single, smaller cash payout.
- Advertised annuity value: $1.25 billion, paid out over 30 years in gradually increasing yearly installments
- Estimated cash option: $572.1 million, taken as a one-time lump sum
Both figures are before federal taxes, and state taxes may also apply depending on where the ticket is purchased and where the winner lives.
Of course, there’s a reason the jackpot can grow this large: the odds of winning it are extremely long. Powerball’s advertised odds of hitting the grand prize are just 1 in 292.2 million — meaning a single ticket is overwhelmingly likely to miss.
Powerball tickets cost $2 per play, with an optional extra fee for add-ons like Power Play in most states.
Holiday dreams, lottery reality
With the drawing falling so close to Christmas, millions of players are likely to pick up tickets in hopes of sharing in the 1.25 billion Powerball jackpot — or at least landing one of the smaller prizes that can still make a dent in holiday bills.
Lottery officials typically remind players that while giant jackpots can be fun to daydream about, tickets should be bought responsibly and never with money needed for essentials like rent, food or utilities. For almost everyone, the holiday season will still be shaped more by paychecks and planning than by improbable windfalls.
For one winner, though, Wednesday’s drawing could turn into a gift that keeps coming for decades — or arrives all at once in a single, eye-popping deposit.
Sources:
Powerball – “How to Play Powerball & Odds”
AP News – “Powerball jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.25 billion after no winner in latest drawing”
