Powerball’s jackpot rose to an estimated $1.25 billion after no tickets came up winners of Monday night’s grand prize of roughly $1.14 billion.
The winning numbers for that drawing were 23, 35, 59, 63 and 68 with a Powerball of 2.
The latest pot of gold would be the sixth-largest in Powerball’s history and the second-biggest Powerball grand prize this year — a $1.787 billion jackpot was hit Sept. 6 in Missouri and Texas.
This is only the second time the game has generated back-to-back billion-dollar jackpots.
To win the grand prize, a ticket must match the five white balls pulled during the drawing as well as the red Powerball. The possible winner or winners will get to choose between the estimated $1.25 billion jackpot paid out in an annuity or as an up-front lump-sum payment estimated at $572.1 million, both before taxes.
It was not immediately known if there were any winners of Monday’s jackpot.
Powerball tickets are $2 each and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
While nobody won the jackpot over the weekend, five tickets claimed $1 million prizes by matching all five white balls, and two other tickets each earned a $2 million payday by again matching all five white balls after having bought the Power Play bonus for an additional $1.
In September, a $1.787 billion Powerball jackpot was split between two tickets purchased in Missouri and Texas.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are extremely low, with changes to the game made a decade ago further decreasing the odds of winning the grand prize.
Powerball increased the number of white balls from 59 to 69 in 2015, while the number of red balls decreased from 35 to 26. The Multi-State Lottery Association said the jackpot odds became steeper after the redesign, shifting from 1 in 175.2 million to 1 in 292.2 million. The overall odds of winning any prize improved after the changes, from 1 in 31.85 to 1 in 24.9, according to the association.
