US lottery jackpot balloons to record high

The jackpot in Saturday's Powerball drawing surged to $949.8 million, in the largest jackpot in US history.

The winning numbers for the Powerball jackpot were pulled out Saturday night, which are 32-16-19-57-34 and Powerball number 13, reports Xinhua news agency.

The odds to win are one in 292.2 million. It is unclear if anyone has snagged the winning numbers.

A Powerball ticket costs $2. The game's jackpot starts at $40 million and grows until it is won. Players choose their first five numbers from a pool of 69 and another number -- called the Powerball -- from a separate pool of 26.

 

The jackpot reached $500 million on Wednesday, when the drawing did not produce a matching ticket, and surged to $800 million on Friday.

If no one wins Saturday, the prize will likely skyrocket to $1.3 billion for next Wednesday, according to officials.

The previous record lottery jackpot payout of North America was in March, 2012, when $656 million were won in Mega Millions lottery.