Powerball jackpot soars to $403 million

The jackpot for the next Powerball drawing scheduled Wednesday evening has soared to an estimated $403 million, officials of the multistate game reported Monday.

The one-time cash option for the drawing was estimated at $243.9 million. The lottery game is played in most states, including Kentucky and Indiana.

No one matched the six numbers drawn Saturday night -- 3, 7, 9, 31, 33, and the Powerball, 20.

The pending jackpot is one of the largest prizes ever offered for the game, and has reached a level where many occasional players start buying tickets, lottery officials say. But the upcoming jackpot pales in comparison with the record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot that was shared by several ticket holders in January 2016.

Powerball tickets cost $2 each. The odds of winning any Powerball prize are 1 in 24.9, but the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338.

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Players choose the first five numbers from a set of 69 white balls and the Powerball from a pool of 26 red balls.

Powerball jackpots start at $40 million, and the game's second prize for matching the first five numbers but missing the Powerball is $1 million. The game also offers a "power play" option that can mean larger payoffs for some lower-tier winnings.

The twice-weekly Powerball drawings are at 11 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday and Saturday.

In Kentucky, the automatic tax withholding for any lottery prize greater than $5,000 is 31 percent -- 25 percent federal and 6 percent state taxes. Winners may be subject to additional taxes, depending on their annual earnings.

Also, in the commonwealth, most lottery proceeds returned to the state are used for college scholarships.

Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at 502-582-7089, or via email at sshafer@courier-journal.com.