It’s Christmas Eve, and as families across the country gather around twinkling trees and festive tables, millions are clutching their Powerball tickets, daring to dream of a holiday miracle. The reason? Tonight’s Powerball jackpot has soared to a staggering $1.7 billion, marking the fourth-largest lottery prize in U.S. history, according to Powerball.com and NPR. With no grand prize winner since early September, the anticipation has reached a fever pitch—turning this Christmas Eve into a night of hope, suspense, and, perhaps, life-changing fortune.
The jackpot, which has been snowballing over 46 consecutive draws without a winner, now stands at an estimated lump sum cash value of $781.3 million before taxes. As reported by NPR, this is only the second time in Powerball’s history that back-to-back jackpots have each soared above $1 billion. The last time someone cracked the code was on September 6, 2025, when tickets in Montana and Texas split a $1.787 billion grand prize. Since then, the pot has only grown, drawing in more players with each passing week.
For those who haven’t played before, the rules are deceptively simple. Each $2 ticket gives players a shot at matching five white balls (numbered 1 to 69) and one red Powerball (numbered 1 to 26). Match them all, and you take home the grand prize. But as any seasoned player knows, the odds are daunting—just 1 in 292.2 million, a figure that, as Davidson College math professor Tim Chartier told NPR, is akin to “selecting one marked dollar bill from a stack 19 miles high.” Chartier added, “It’s true that if you buy 100 tickets, you are 100 times more likely to win. But in this case, ‘100 times more likely’ barely moves the probability needle. Buying 100 tickets is like getting 100 guesses to name that one chosen second over nine years. Possible — but wildly improbable.”
Still, the astronomical odds haven’t stopped hopefuls from lining up at gas stations, supermarkets, and convenience stores across 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As NPR notes, tickets aren’t sold in Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, or Utah, and age restrictions vary by state. Most require players to be at least 18, but in Nebraska you must be 19, and in Louisiana and Arizona, the minimum is 21. And if you’re lucky enough to snag a winning ticket, you’ll need to cash it in the state where you bought it.
Tonight’s drawing, the 47th in the current jackpot run, will take place at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee at 10:59 p.m. ET, broadcast live on the Powerball website. According to Powerball officials, the Christmas holiday won’t affect the process—so if a winner emerges, the festivities will be immediate. The winner will face a choice: take the $781.3 million lump sum in cash, or opt for an annuity that pays out the full $1.7 billion across 30 payments over 29 years, with each annual payment increasing by 5%. Unsurprisingly, most winners in the past have chosen the lump sum, but both options are calculated before taxes, so Uncle Sam will still get his share.
Even if the jackpot remains elusive, there are plenty of other prizes up for grabs. In the most recent drawing on December 22, while no one hit the grand prize, nine lucky players from Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York (two winners), Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin each took home $1 million for matching five white balls. Smaller prizes range from $4 for matching just the Powerball, up to $2 million for a Match 5 plus Power Play. As one recent $1 million winner told Powerball officials, “We’re going to pay off our cars and credit cards and get a bigger house!” Another winner, Thomas Anderson of Burlington, North Carolina, explained he planned to use his $100,000 prize to go back to school.
Those looking to boost their non-jackpot winnings can add the Power Play for an extra $1, multiplying prizes (except the jackpot) by up to 10 times, depending on the draw. There’s also the Double Play option, available in some states, offering a second chance to win up to $10 million for another $1 per play. In California, prize payouts are determined by sales and the number of winners, so amounts can vary.
For anyone still hoping to join the fun, tickets can be purchased at thousands of retail locations, with sales cut-off times varying by state—usually one to two hours before the drawing. In Ohio, for example, the deadline is 10 p.m. ET, and tickets can also be bought online via the Ohio Lottery website. Importantly, you don’t need to be a U.S. citizen or resident to play, but you do need to be physically present in a participating jurisdiction to buy a ticket.
The Powerball phenomenon has been years in the making. Launched in 1992, the game has evolved over the decades, with rule changes in 2015 making the odds tougher for the jackpot but easier for smaller prizes. The rationale, as lottery officials have explained to NPR, was to create larger, more headline-grabbing jackpots that would entice more players. The strategy has clearly worked: since 2016, more than a dozen U.S. lottery jackpots have topped $1 billion, with the all-time record set at $2.04 billion in November 2022 by a single ticket sold in California.
Tonight’s drawing is expected to be a record-breaker in more ways than one. According to Powerball, this is the highest number of consecutive drawings (47) without a jackpot winner in the game’s history. And with ticket sales expected to spike as the deadline approaches, the final jackpot could climb even higher by the time the numbers are drawn.
For many, the excitement isn’t just about the money—it’s about the shared experience, the “what if?” conversations, and the fleeting hope of waking up a billionaire on Christmas morning. Charlie McIntyre, executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery, captured the sentiment perfectly when he told NPR, “Just think of the stories you can tell for generations to come about the year you woke up a billionaire on Christmas.”
Whether tonight’s drawing produces a winner or rolls over once again, the Powerball’s massive jackpot has already captured the imagination of the nation. For now, the only certainty is that at 10:59 p.m. ET, millions will be watching, waiting, and dreaming of a Christmas miracle.
