newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Powerball’s jackpot is on the rise. The number may seem like pocket change compared to the recent $656 million Mega Millions jackpot, but it’s not.

No one matched all six numbers in the Powerball drawing of Saturday, April 14, so the jackpot for Wednesday night’s drawing has gone to $131 million. The cash option value will be $81.4 million.

According to delawareonline.com, the winning numbers for Saturday were: 14, 15, 16, 19, and 24, and the Powerball was 2. The Power Play multiplier was 16.

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Six tickets got the first five numbers without matching the Powerball to win $1 million, none of them coming from New Jersey. Tickets having the Power Play option, which costs an additional $1, see their second place winnings increase to $2 million. One $2 million winning ticket came from Florida.

Most of the country’s attention was focused on the Mega Millions game when the March 30 drawing got into the stratosphere with its $656 million annuity jackpot. But Powerball has seen some success this year also.

Powerball.com reported that the game saw a $336.4 million winner on February 11, 2012, when Louise White of Rhode Island claimed a lump sum payout of $210 million, a Powerball record.

But if you’re wondering where the good luck is running this week, it appears to be at a gas station in Watson, La. According to Lottery Post, the station sold tickets containing six different $1 million Mega Millions lottery prizes.

A man reportedly played the same five numbers and picked a different Mega-Ball number on each play, plus the multiplier. After the first five numbers were drawn, he won $250,000 three times, or $750 million. The matching multiplier quadrupled his total winnings to $3 million.

That’s not all. The machine accidentally printed out the $3 million ticket twice. A couple of hours later someone agreed to buy it.