If the Powerball jackpot gets much bigger, Americans may need to start saying a word they haven't heard in a while: billion.
After months of nobody hitting the winning combination, the grand prize has swelled to an estimated $856 million, putting it within sight of one of the most attention-grabbing milestones in American lotteries: $1 billion.
The answer is remarkably simple: nobody has won it in months.
Powerball officials say the jackpot has been rolling over since May, growing through 41 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner. Saturday's drawing will be the 42nd drawing in the current jackpot run.
Each time no tickets match all five white balls plus the Powerball, the jackpot grows. As the prize gets larger, more people buy tickets, pushing attention and excitement even higher.
The estimated jackpot for Saturday's drawing is $856 million, making it the eighth-largest jackpot in Powerball history. Winners can choose either an annuity paid over time or a lump-sum cash option estimated at $372 million before taxes.
The current jackpot is already larger than many of the headline-grabbing prizes Americans spent months talking about in recent years.
Yet it still hasn't reached the billion-dollar threshold that tends to spark an even bigger frenzy.
That's becoming a realistic possibility.
At $856 million, another rollover would push the prize to $900 million or more. Historically, once the jackpot hits $500 million rollovers add about $50 million to the prize, depending on ticket sales and interest.
At this pace, the jackpot could touch $1 billion next week if no one wins.
The current prize ranks as the eighth-largest Powerball jackpot ever offered, according to Powerball.
Only seven jackpots in the game's history have been larger, including the record-setting $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won in California in 2022.
For now, the current run has already secured a place among the biggest lottery stories of the year.
The next Powerball drawing is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 8, at 10:59 p.m. ET. Powerball drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Players across the country will be hoping the months-long jackpot run finally comes to an end with their ticket.
The winning numbers from the Aug. 5 drawing were:
No ticket matched all six numbers, allowing the jackpot to continue its climb toward territory few lottery prizes ever reach.
Let's be honest: most people know the odds are long.
But, with $856 million on the line and the possibility of an even larger prize ahead, Saturday's drawing isn't about odds.
Still, the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 292.2 million.
Maria Francis is a Pennsylvania-based journalist covering trending and breaking topics across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions for USA Today Network. Reach her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Powerball jackpot is closing in on $1 billion. Here's how it got there