Powerball Jackpot Soars to $1.25 Billion After Monday Drawing Produces No Grand Prize Winner

The Powerball jackpot has surged to an estimated $1.25 billion after Monday night's drawing failed to produce a grand prize winner, marking another milestone in what has become an extraordinary lottery run that began months ago. Monday's winning numbers were 23, 35, 59, 63, and 68, with a red Powerball of 2 and a Power Play multiplier of 4. While no ticket matched all six numbers to claim the massive top prize, the drawing created numerous substantial winners across the country. Two players came tantalizingly close to the jackpot, with tickets sold in Arizona and California matching all five white balls to secure $1 million prizes each. The drawing proved lucrative for many others as well, producing 43 tickets that won $50,000 prizes and 14 tickets that won $200,000 prizes, according to Powerball officials. The current jackpot represents the sixth-largest in Powerball history and the second-biggest grand prize of 2025. The largest jackpot this year was claimed in September, valued at $1.787 billion before taxes, which went to two winners from Missouri and Texas who split the prize and opted for the lump sum payment of $410 million before taxes. Wednesday's upcoming drawing will mark the 44th consecutive drawing since the last jackpot was won, representing the longest such Powerball run in the game's history. This is only the second time the lottery has experienced back-to-back billion-dollar jackpots. The massive prize escalation began after Saturday's drawing on December 13, when no one matched the winning numbers 1, 28, 31, 57, 58, and red Powerball 16. That drawing had produced seven tickets worth $1 million or more, including five $1 million winners and two $2 million winners who had added the Power Play option. Winners of Wednesday's potential $1.25 billion jackpot would have the choice between the full amount paid out as an annuity over 30 years or an immediate lump-sum payment estimated at $572.1 million, both before taxes. The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot remain astronomical at more than 290 million-to-1, requiring players to match all five white balls plus the red Powerball number. Despite these long odds, the massive jackpot has generated significant excitement as the holiday season approaches. The largest Powerball jackpot in history remains the record-breaking $2.040 billion prize won on November 7, 2022, by a single ticket sold in California. The current run of rollovers has pushed this year's second billion-dollar jackpot into the upper echelon of lottery prizes, continuing a trend that has seen 12 jackpots cross the $1 billion threshold over the past five years. As lottery fever builds ahead of Wednesday's drawing, officials remind players that substantial prizes are available at multiple levels, as demonstrated by the dozens of significant winners in Monday's drawing who fell just short of the grand prize.