What Powerball's $1 Billion Jackpot Pays Out After Taxes

(KMDL-FM) Fans of the multi-state lottery game Powerball have one billion reasons to pay attention to tonight's lottery drawing. That's right, the annuitized jackpot for tonight's Powerball is estimated at $1 billion or more when the ping-pong balls drop later this evening.

The jump to a $1 billion Powerball prize might have come as a surprise to players following the results of Monday night's Powerball. After that drawing, it was initially determined that the estimated jackpot prize would be $975 million. But a further review of ticket sales and forecasts suggested that the jackpot should be raised to the $1 billion mark.

As rare as it might sound for a lottery jackpot to reach $1 billion, the Powerball game has achieved that level eight other times. The most recent was when the game made a $1.8 billion winner in a drawing that was held on Christmas Eve in 2025.

The Powerball game has had 44 consecutive drawings since the game made its last jackpot winner. The most recent jackpot win came on May 2, 2026. That is when two tickets, one sold in Texas and the other in Florida, split a $20 million jackpot.

Is Tonight's Powerball the Largest in Game History?

If you are wondering how tonight's jackpot stacks up against the largest Powerball jackpots in history, it would be the eighth-largest prize ever produced by the game. The largest Powerball win came in November of 2022 when a ticket sold in California matched the numbers needed to claim the game's jackpot of $2.040 billion.

It costs $2 to play Powerball; you must be at least 21 years of age to purchase a ticket from an authorized retailer. A player might opt to spend an extra dollar for the game's Power Play feature. This allows prizes to be multiplied by a multiplier number that is determined in the course of the evening's drawing.

To fill out a ticket, you will choose five "white ball" numbers between 1 and 69 and then choose one Powerball number from a selection of numbers between 1 and 26. A player may choose the numbers they would like to play, or they can ask for a "quick pick" in which the Powerball ticket machine randomly generates a ticket. The quick pick is how most jackpots are won.

Since you're a good American and I know your first concern after winning tonight's Powerball would be how much in taxes would I owe the federal government, we did a little math, and remember this is all an estimation, but it looks as though if you opted for the "lump sum" payout with a win in tonight's Powerball you'd be looking at bringing almost $273 million home.

And don't forget the state of Louisiana will come knocking with their hands out too, so you're going to be walking away with quite a bit less than $1 billion. But Powerball isn't the only chance at a big money win for Louisiana Lottery players tonight.

The Lotto Jackpot in Louisiana is Over $3.2 Million

The Lotto game in Louisiana is riding really high right now. Granted, the current jackpot amount of $3.225 million is well below the record prize of some $31 million from 1999, but winning $3.25 million on a one-dollar ticket would not be a bad investment in any portfolio.

The Lotto game is similar to the Powerball game in the fact that a player must choose six numbers to complete a ticket; the difference is that in Lotto, all six numbers are chosen from a pool between 1 and 42, whereas the Powerball game has two different number pools that players select from.

The drawings in both games are scheduled for 10 pm. By rule, ticket sales cease at least one hour before the drawing time, so if you do want to play, you'll want to go ahead and make that commitment. Remember, lottery games do involve a risk of losing money. If you have a gambling problem, help is available by calling 1-877-770-STOP (7867). The call and the referral to counseling are offered at no charge to you and your family. Good Luck.

10 Driving Questions Every Good Driver in Louisiana Should Be Able to Answer Correctly

Driving, hopefully you are not doing that while you're doing this. Because that would disqualify you under the "good driver" aspect of our quiz. Here's what we have. We have created 10 multiple-choice questions based on the Louisiana Driver's Manual. They are about basic driver knowledge and behind-the-wheel problem-solving. The correct answers are revealed after the tenth question.

Gallery Credit: Bruce Mikells