Powerball jackpot balloons to $1.5 billion ahead of Saturday drawing

That’s one hot ticket.

Powerball jackpot reached $1.5 billion Saturday following a streak of nearly 45 drawings without a winner.

The prize, which has an upfront cash value of $686.5 million before taxes, is now the fifth largest in the Powerball history and the seventh largest among U.S. lottery jackpots.

The winner’s ticket must match all six numbers drawn, five of them in white balls and the red Powerball number, during Saturday night’s drawing to claim the jackpot.

If there’s no jackpot winner after Saturday night’s drawing, the prize will continue to grow.

The $2 game, played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, underwent a series of changes over the last two decades intended to boost jackpots and appeal to a broader market of ticket buyers.

Since then, the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the game’s organizers at the Multi-State Lottery Association.

Against those odds, the Powerball jackpot was last won just three months ago.

On Sept. 6, a $1.787 billion prize was split by ticketholders in Missouri and Texas. That jackpot was the second-largest in Powerball history, surpassed only by the Nov. 7, 2022, jackpot of $2.04 billion, a world national lottery record.

Saturday’s draw is scheduled to take place at 10:59 p.m. ET.