Powerball climbs to largest ever U.S. jackpot

Someone could win the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history on Saturday, after no one won the top prize in Wednesday's Powerball drawing.

No lottery player matched all five white balls (2, 11, 47, 62 and 63) and the Powerball of 17 drawn Wednesday to hit the $500 million jackpot.

The jackpot now stands at $700 million for the annuity, or $428.4 million cash, for Saturday's drawing (it rolled over to $675 million after Wednesday's drawing, but was increased Thursday due to strong ticket sales). It would be the biggest jackpot in U.S. history, topping a $656 Mega Millions win from March 2012.

No Pennsylvania or New Jersey ticket-buyer won a $1 million or $2 million second-tier prize by matching the five white balls.

The top prize for players in the two states was $150,000, for matching four white balls and the Powerball.

Five players in Pennsylvania and one in New Jersey matched those numbers and purchased their tickets with the power play option, boosting their earnings to $150,000.

Another 10 in Pennsylvania and six in New Jersey won $50,000 for getting those numbers right without the power play.

Fifteen tickets matched the five white balls but missed the Powerball. A New Mexico ticket won $2 million with the power play, while the other 14 won $1 million each. The $1 million tickets were sold in California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.

The odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292 million.

During the days prior to Wednesday's drawing, the jackpot was boosted twice due to the amount of tickets sold. Around midday Wednesday, tickets in Pennsylvania were being sold at a rate of about 4,200 per minute, lottery officials said.

The top prize has been rolling since the Nov. 4 drawing, when a Tennessee ticket won $144.1 million