ALBUQUERQUE – Thanks to players coming out to buy tickets, the Powerball® jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing has jumped to $485 million.
New Mexico Lottery CEO David Barden said Powerball sales in New Mexico have more than doubled in the past week, from $400,000 to $940,000.
“It’s been a year since the jackpot has been this high and people are in the mood to dream big,” Barden said.
Earlier today, the jackpot was at $450 million.
Players in New Mexico have until 8 p.m. MT Wednesday to buy a ticket for the drawing, which takes place at approximately 8:59 p.m.
Powerball Fun Facts
If Wednesday’s jackpot lands in New Mexico, it will break the record $206.9 million jackpot won by a pool of nine Powerball players from the Roswell area in September 2008.
In the past six years in New Mexico, 18 Powerball tickets have paid prizes of $1 million and $2 million. The state’s most recent Powerball millionaire is Romana Saavedra of Las Cruces. Last week, Saavedra claimed a $2 million prize from the game’s Nov. 29 drawing.
The record Powerball jackpot is $590.5 million. It was won in May 2013 by a player in Florida.
How to Play Powerball
Powerball is played in 47 lotteries. Players choose five numbers from 1 to 59 and one Powerball number from 1 to 35. Players can also ask for a “quick pick,” a set of numbers chosen randomly by the lottery’s gaming system. Each wager costs $2.
In addition to the jackpot, there are eight prize levels from $4 to $1 million. The game’s Power Play® option multiples non-jackpot prizes and will double the $1 million prize to $2 million automatically. Power Play costs an additional $1 per play per drawing.
The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are approximately 1 in 175 million. The overall odds of winning a Powerball prize are approximately 1 in 32.
Legislative Lottery Scholarships
The New Mexico Lottery has raised $632.9 million for education in New Mexico. More than 97,000 students have attended college on Legislative Lottery Scholarships, of which 43,400 students have already earned their college degrees.
More information about Legislative Lottery Scholarships is available at www.nmlottery.com.