$1.6 billion Powerball jackpot is set to be world's biggest ever

ATLANTA — The "world's largest lotto prize ever offered" — an estimated $1.6 billion jackpot — is now at stake in Saturday's Powerball drawing, the multi-state game operator said Friday.

The jackpot, which has a lump-sum option of an estimated $782.4 million, "breaks the world record for the Largest National Lottery Jackpot in the Guinness World Records," the participating California Lottery tweeted.

The Guinness World Records' "Greatest jackpot in a national lottery" was set by Powerball in January 2016, when three tickets won a $1.586 billion jackpot.

Saturday's drawing will take place at 8:59 p.m. MT at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. It will be the 40th Powerball drawing since the jackpot was last won Aug. 3 in Pennsylvania, according to Powerball.

If no one wins, it will "tie the game record for the number of consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner," the operator said.

"This Powerball game is delivering exactly what our players want," Powerball Product Group Chair Drew Svitko said in a statement.

"We are witnessing history in the making with this $1.6 billion jackpot! What's also exciting is that this run has already created millions of winners, including nearly 100 players who have won prizes worth $1 million or more."

Powerball tickets are $2 per play and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Related topics