03/07/08 Powerball® Jackpot Reaches Estimated $200 Million For Saturday Drawing




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POWERBALL® JACKPOT REACHES ESTIMATED $200 MILLION FOR SATURDAY DRAWING

Jackpot Ranks As 16th Largest In Game's History

The jackpot for Saturday's Powerball drawing has grown to an estimated $200 million, making it the 16th-largest prize in the history of the game. The jackpot has been growing since Jan. 17. The Powerball jackpot was last won on Wednesday, Jan. 16. The $97 million prize that night was won in Louisiana, but has not yet been claimed.

About the Jackpot

Powerball jackpot winners can choose the lump-sum or annuity option. Saturdays's cash option amount is $99.2 million. Since its start in 1992, the highest Powerball jackpot ever awarded in the game was $365 million. It was won by a group of workers at a meat-packing plant in Nebraska in February 2006.

Fun Facts About Powerball

Here are some fun facts about the Powerball game:

Since its start in April 1992, the Powerball jackpot has been won 203 times, involving a total of 231 winners.
Jackpot winners in Powerball have claimed prizes totaling more than $7.7billion.
But in addition to the jackpot, Powerball winners have claimed smaller prizes totaling more than $5.1 billion.
Iowa Lottery players have claimed jackpots totaling more than $393 million.

Iowa Jackpot Winners

Iowa Lottery players have claimed six Powerball jackpots:

Ed Brown of Washington split a $10.4 million jackpot with a woman from Missouri in December 1992.
Tim Schultz of Des Moines won a $28 million jackpot in February 1999.
The Larry Hasken family of Sabula claimed a $31.8 million jackpot in January 2000.
Jacquelyn Moore of Omaha, Neb., won a $14.4 million jackpot in October 2004. (She bought her ticket at a convenience store in Carter Lake in western Iowa.)
Hugh Hawkins of Des Moines claimed a $113.2 million jackpot in December 2005.
Tim & Kellie Guderian of Fort Dodge claimed a $200.8 million jackpot in October 2006.

Since the Iowa Lottery's inception in 1985, more than $2 billion has been awarded in prizes and more than $1 billion has been raised for state programs.