Powerball player narrowly misses $31 million jackpot — but still wins big

A Powerball ticket sold in Illinois won $50,000, but just missed the $31 million jackpot, lottery officials say.

The ticket matched four of five winning numbers and the Powerball in the drawing Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Illinois Lottery site said.

Nobody won the grand prize, which rises to an estimated $46 million, with a cash value of about $20.5 million, for the next drawing Saturday, Jan. 25, the national Powerball site said.

The winning numbers were 5, 6, 27, 40 and 49 with a Powerball of 5, the lottery said. The Power Play multiplier was 2x.

Nearly 300,000 other Powerball tickets sold in the United States also won prizes ranging from $4 to $50,000, the lottery said.

The Powerball jackpot has not been hit since Saturday, Jan. 18, when an Oregon player hit the $329 million grand prize, lottery officials said.

What to know about Powerball

To score a jackpot in the Powerball, a player must match all five white balls and the red Powerball.

The odds of scoring the jackpot prize are 1 in 292,201,338.

Tickets can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times and price vary by state.

Drawings are broadcast Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:59 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.

Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

This story was originally published January 23, 2025 at 6:39 AM with the headline "Powerball player narrowly misses $31 million jackpot — but still wins big."