DES MOINES, Iowa — The Powerball jackpot jumped to $550 million Thursday — the third-largest lottery in history — as dreamers in all but the seven states where the game isn’t played snatched up tickets.
Thursday’s announcement by the Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association means ticket sales have soared since Wednesday night’s drawing for an estimated $360 million jackpot, in which no one picked all six numbers correctly.
Sales jumped by $260 million in the days before November’s biggest Powerball jackpot win in history — a prize of $587.5 million. Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer said it’s possible that Saturday’s could end up eclipsing that amount.
A $550 million jackpot would be the second-largest in Powerball history and the third-largest for any lottery.
Lottery officials expect jackpot totals of this size to continue to climb in shorter amounts of time, thanks in part to a game redesign in January 2012 that increased the odds of winning some kind of prize, but also lowered the possible number combinations to win the Powerball.
