KENTUCKY (WFIE) -
Saturday night's Powerball Jackpot stands at an estimated $325 million, which ties the third largest jackpot ever offered for the game. However, the cash value of the jackpot - has now risen to $202.9 million – is the largest ever offered in the history of Powerball.
The previous Powerball cash value record was $177.3 million. This record was set in 2006, when the overall jackpot was $365 million (still a record for Powerball). The cash value of this jackpot is higher due to weakness in the bond market.
"The overall jackpot amount is based on what we can earn on investing the cash option amount over a 30 year period," said Kentucky Lottery President and CEO Arch Gleason. "Interest rates are very low right now, so it takes more cash value to generate the annual payments over 30 years.
As a result, while the overall jackpot isn't yet at a record level, the cash option for Saturday's drawing far exceeds what we've ever been able to offer."
In Kentucky, the largest Powerball jackpot ever won – $128.6 million – was for a ticket sold on Christmas Eve 2009 to a Georgetown man.
Players can purchase tickets for Saturday night's drawing until 9:58 PM EST that evening.
The odds of winning the top prize are one in 175,223,510.
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