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Powerball jackpot reaches $348 million

Posted at 6:55 AM, May 02, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-02 06:55:52-04

Here we go again!

The current jackpot for the national Powerball lottery has reached $348 million after 17 drawings without a big winner.

The last jackpot to reach this level eventually grew into the largest in U.S. history — $1.5 billion.

That one garnered a lot of attention. In January, three winning tickets were sold in Chino Hills, California; Munford, Tennessee; and Melbourne Beach, Florida.

Now, the winnings are inching closer to reaching $400 million and cracking the list of the largest lottery jackpots of all time.

This pot has been growing since March 2, after a 67-year-old man in Florida claimed the previous Powerball jackpot of $291.4 million.

The latest Powerball drawing was Saturday night: The winning numbers were 3-12-16-32-34 and the Powerball was 14. About 1.3 million people won something — for a total of $12.8 million.

But no one took the jackpot home. The next drawing is on Wednesday.

While the jackpot is advertised as being worth $348 million, a winner will only receive that amount if she takes the annuity — the money is paid out over 30 years.

The lump sum option, which is more popular, has a cash value of $226.1 million.

As the pot grows, more and more people are likely to rush out to pick their numbers. But the odds of winning aren’t great.

Individual tickets have only a 1 in 292 million chance of having the jackpot-winning six-digit combination.

Even just guessing the Powerball number, which will get you $4, is hard — the odds are 1 in 38.