ALBUQUERQUE – The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday”s drawing is a record $425 million.
According to the New Mexico Lottery, the jackpot run up began Oct. 6 at $40 million. It has reached $425 million through 15 consecutive drawings.
Players have until 8 p.m. MT Wednesday to buy tickets for the current drawing. The drawing takes place Wednesday at 8:58 p.m. MT.
In addition to the jackpot, Powerball offers eight prize levels ranging between $4 and $1 million. The game”s Power Play option multiples non-jackpot prizes and doubles the $1 million prize to $2 million automatically. Power Play costs an additional $1 per play per drawing.
This is the third time the Powerball game has reached record heights since the ticket price increased from $1 to $2 in January. The jackpot reached $336 million in February and $337 million in August. The ticket price was changed to increase prizes. The starting jackpot was increased from $20 million to $40 million. The second-place prize jumped from $200,000 to $1 million.
New Mexico”s Powerball Records
Powerball is played in 44 lotteries. New Mexico joined the game in 1996. Of the five jackpots won in the state, the record is $206.9 million. It was won by a pool of nine players from the Roswell area in September 2008.
More than 220 prizes ranging between $100,000 and $1 million have been won by New Mexico Lottery players. So far in 2012, a record five players have won prizes of $1 million each.
Legislative Lottery Scholarships
All profit from the sale of New Mexico Lottery games funds Legislative Lottery Scholarships. Since 1996, the New Mexico Lottery has raised $539 million and more than 82,600 students have attended college on Legislative Lottery Scholarships. More information about Legislative Lottery Scholarships is available at www.nmlottery.com.