Powerball officials announced the winning numbers on Tuesday morning: 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, with another 10 because the Powerball. The video announcing the winning numbers didn't address the delay. The winning ticket matched all six numbers. More than 11.2 million tickets won cash prizes in the drawing, totaling $98.1 million. In all, 22 tickets across the country matched all five white balls to win a $1 million prize. One ticket in Florida won $2 million by matching all five white balls and the Power Play option. There were also 225 tickets that won a $50,000 prize and another 42 tickets won a $100,000 prize.

“They've been running Powerball or its predecessor for 34 years, and they've gradually been which makes it harder and harder to win,” Matheson tells CNBC Make It. The nonprofit Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which runs a group of lotteries including Powerball, has started directing more of its revenue from ticket sales toward the jackpot, rather than smaller prizes, Matheson says — even as those smaller amounts have grown to be better to win.

MUSL has also steadily expanded Powerball's footprint. The overall game now sells tickets in 45 U.S. states, including 14 states added since 2009. Much of this expansion stems from MUSL's 2009 agreement with the consortium of states that operate the Mega Millions lottery. Previously, the 2 lotteries operated exclusively in separate states, and their agreement paved just how for bigger jackpots for both Powerball and Mega Millions.

Mega Millions followed Powerball's path in 2017, both increasing ticket prices and adding more number combinations to develop jackpot sizes. Mega Millions'odds also jumped consequently: Your present odds of winning are 1 in 302.6 million, down from 1 in 259 million. More recently, rising interest rates may also be helping lottery operators offer bigger jackpots.

A lottery's advertised jackpot size is based on the amount a winner would receive should they chose to be paid out within an annuity within the course of 30 years. Higher interest rates within a drawing means an increased total payout from that annuity fund, MUSL's website notes. By contrast, a lottery's lump-sum cash option is directly fueled by ticket sales. The lump sum for the present Powerball jackpot is $782.4 million, which would result in a annuity fund that ultimately pays out $1.6 billion over three decades on the basis of the current interest rates.

Earlier this week, when the Powerball jackpot stood at $1.2 billion, with a lump sum option of nearly $600 million, Matheson noted that the “same cash value, if you had been doing it at the lowest interest rates back through the Covid recession in 2020 may have only purchase about $800 million worth of advertised value back then.” Today's lottery operators have discovered a sweet spot by “having an odds which can be roughly the exact same size as the populace being served,” Matheson says. Powerball's odds are 1 in 292 million, and the combined populations in the usa where tickets can be purchased equal nearly 320 million.

The effect: A game title that creates eye-popping jackpot numbers while being won just “frequently enough that individuals don't lose hope,” Matheson says. “As the lottery is focused on selling hope.” That also means organizers don't have much reason to help keep making lotteries harder to win, unless jackpot sizes continue to develop too. Bigger jackpots may possibly involve higher ticket prices or expansions to more states, and only five U.S. states don't already sell Powerball or Mega Millions tickets.