Despite a nationwide ticket-buying frenzy that drove the jackpot to about $950 million, there were no tickets sold in last night’s Powerball lottery drawing, meaning that Wednesday’s record-setting jackpot was expected to climb to at least $1.3 billion.
The numbers drawn at 7:59 p.m. were 16, 19, 32, 34 and 57, with the Powerball number 13.
In California, six tickets matched the first five numbers, but missed the Powerball number.
Those tickets — one of which was bought in Orange County’s Dana Point — will be a handsome consolation prize of almost $780,000 each.
Last night was the 19th Powerball drawing since the last jackpot winner in early November.
The odds of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number are about 1 in 293 million, according to the Powerball website. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 24.87.
The Powerball game is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.
