DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Powerball drawing scheduled for Saturday night has been postponed to complete necessary procedures before numbers are released, game organizers announced.
The game's drawing, which includes an estimated $1.3 billion jackpot, has been postponed to allow one of the organizers to complete necessary formalities before the scheduled numbers are announced at 10:59 p.m. ET, Power said. Ball said in a statement.
“Powerball game rules require that all tickets sold nationwide be checked and verified against two different computer systems before winning numbers are drawn,” the statement said. . “This is done to ensure that every ticket sold in the Powerball drawing is considered and has an equal chance of winning. Additional time is required to complete the lottery process.”
A spokesperson for the Multistate Lottery Association told The Associated Press in an email that it did not have an estimate of the length of the delay.
Saturday's jackpot is the eighth largest in U.S. lottery history, with odds of winning being 1 in 292.2 million. The grand prize winner almost always chooses to pay cash, with an estimated $608.9 million in Saturday night's drawing.
Powerball is played in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
