Pineville (US), Oct 5 (AP) The Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated USD 1.4 billion after no players matched all six numbers and hit it rich Wednesday night.

The winning numbers announced were: 9, 35, 54, 63, 64 and the Powerball 1.

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Players will next have a shot at the Powerball jackpot Saturday night in hopes of ending an 11-week stretch without a big winner. No matter how large the prize grows the odds stay the same — and they're terrible.

It's those odds of 1 in 292.2 million that make the jackpot so hard to win and that result in such giant prizes for the lucky player or players who manage to pick the game's six winning numbers. The latest Powerball jackpot is the world's seventh-largest lottery prize. The last time someone won the top prize was July 19.

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The jackpot is based on revenue from ticket sales, so the more people who play the game, the faster the top prize grows. However, even though the current jackpot is advertised as USD 1.4 billion, the lottery has less than half that amount available for the top prize. That's why the cash prize — which most winners take — would be USD 643.7 million.

Players also can choose an annuity, in which that USD 643.7 million would be paid to a company that would guarantee a return over 30 years of USD 1.4 billion. If a winner dies before collecting all their money, the remainder would go to the winner's estate.

The game's odds remain 1 in 292.2 million regardless of how big the jackpot is and the number of people buying tickets. Those odds mean there are 292.2 million possible number combinations.

To put the immensity of that into context, note that for Monday's drawing players across the country chose just over 20 per cent of those possible combinations. That means nearly 80 per cent of the possible combinations were not selected, so the odds were pretty good that there wouldn't be a winner.

Typically, the larger the jackpot grows, the more people play and the more combinations are covered. People also usually buy more tickets on Saturdays, which increases the chance of a winner for those drawings.

Powerball is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)