Powerball jackpot grows to $1.7B as another drawing yields no big winner

An estimated $1.4 billion lottery jackpot will be up for grabs Wednesday night thanks to dozens of drawings without a big winner.

No one won the $1.4 billion Powerball jackpot in Wednesday's drawing, according to the game's website, and the estimated grand prize has grown to $1.7 billion.

Nobody has won the jackpot since May 31, and the 41st drawing on Wednesday wasn't any different. The next drawing is Saturday, and if the jackpot is $1.7 billion it will be the third-largest in the history of the game, organizers said.

The wining numbers in Wednesday's drawing were 3, 16, 29, 61 and 69, with a Powerball of 22.

All of that losing stems from Powerball’s abysmal odds of 1 in 292.2 million, though lottery officials note the odds are far better for the game’s many smaller prizes. There are three drawings each week.

Had someone won Wednesday, the $1.4 billion jackpot would have been for a winner who opts to receive 30 payments over 29 years through an annuity. Winners almost always choose the game’s cash option, which for Wednesday's drawing would have been an estimated $634.3 million — but who's counting?