Jackpot hits 1.5 billion USD in US lottery record

Baku. 14 January. REPORT.AZ/ The largest jackpot in US history shot up to USD 1.5 billion today, driven by record sales as people flock across state lines and international borders to buy tickets, Report informs referring to TASS, a lottery executive said.

To win the jackpot, a ticket holder has to match all numbers on five white balls and one red ball selected at the twice weekly Powerball draw - next due on Wednesday.

The winner can choose to be paid the full jackpot in annual installments over 29 years - or take a one-off cash payment of USD 930 million - before taxes.

Through last Saturday about USD 1.75 billion in Powerball tickets have been bought since the last jackpot win on November 4, Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery and chair of the Powerball game group said.

At the last draw on Saturday, 25 people matched the first five numbers - winning USD 1 million each - and three others had paid a bonus netting them USD 2 million each but no one claimed the then USD 950 million jackpot.