Saturday’s Powerball drawing: Jackpot nears $1 billion after long dry spell for winners

Another Powerball drawing on Saturday evening, another chance at a jackpot that’s slowly approaching the $1 billion mark.

The estimated $960 million prize is the ninth-largest lottery jackpot in the world, behind previous Powerball and Mega Millions prizes that were all over $1 billion.

The prize has become so large because there have been 30 consecutive drawings through July 19 without a big winner. This streak without a jackpot winner is due to the game’s high odds of winning, which are 1 in 292.2 million and are designed to make winnings so rare top prizes can become large.

The $960 million prize goes to a single winner who chooses an annuity with annual payments over 30 years. Winners almost always choose the cash option, which would be an estimated $441 million in Saturday’s drawing.

Federal taxes will eat up these winnings, and some states also tax large lottery winnings.

Powerball is played in 45 states as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.