DENVER — The Powerball jackpot grew to a juicy $685 million prize after no one won the jackpot on Monday.
Although no jackpot winners were selected, a few people became millionaires, including one person who bought a ticket in Colorado.
Tickets sold in Georgia and Colorado each won $2 million after matching all five numbers and choosing the more expensive Power Play option. Three tickets sold in California, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania won $1 million after matching all five numbers.
Colorado's lucky winning streak appears to be here to stay, as just last week, another state resident won $2 million in Wednesday's drawing.
The winning numbers for Monday's Christmas night jackpot drawing were 5-12-20-24-29 and Powerball 4, with a Power Play 2x. The cash option, which most winners choose, was more than $321.1 million.
The jackpot for Monday was initially estimated at $638 million, but the prize was announced as $660.3 million at the time of the drawing.
The estimated prize for Wednesday's drawing is $685 million, with a $344.7 million cash prize. That's just $2.8 million away from cracking the top 10 highest Powerball jackpots in history.
The lottery game hasn't seen a jackpot winner since Oct. 11, when a single ticket in California took home the $1.76 billion prize.
The prize is now the fourth Powerball jackpot to topple the half-a-billion dollar mark this year.
The streak without a jackpot winner is due to the game's long odds, 1 in 292.2 million, that are designed to make winning rare so grand prizes can grow large.
Even with the smaller lump sum payout, federal taxes will eat into those winnings, and some states also tax big lottery prizes. Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
When is the Powerball drawing?
The Powerball drawing takes place live at 10:59 p.m. Eastern every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Tickets, which cost $2 per play, are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
What are my chances of winning the Powerball?
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are one in 292.2 million.
Over the past few years, huge lottery jackpots have become more common as lottery officials have changed the rules and ticket prices to boost top prizes.
Powerball's biggest change came in 2021 when officials decided to add a Monday drawing to its weekly lineup of Wednesday and Saturday evening drawings. At the time of the announcement, Powerball proclaimed the addition of the Monday drawing would lead to "larger, faster-growing jackpots."
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS
