Powerball Numbers For 08/21/21, Saturday Jackpot was $290 Million

By Scott McDonald On 8/21/21 at 3:00 PM EDT

The Powerball jackpot for 08/21/21 was $290 million, and here are the numbers from the Saturday night drawing.

First Five: 16-28-36-39-59
Powerball: 04
Power Play: 2x

Saturday night's 08/21/21 Powerball jackpot was estimated at $290 million, with a cash option worth $209.2 million. There was no grand prize winner from Saturday, so the Powerball jackpot for Wednesday 08/25/21 will increase beyond $300 million.

Here are the winning numbers from last Wednesday night's drawing:

First Five: 35-36-51-55-61
Powerball: 26
Power Play: 2x

The Wednesday 08/18/21 Powerball jackpot was worth $274 million. There was no grand prize winner, but there were three tickets sold that matched all five white balls, and minus the red Powerball, for the game's second-prize. Two of those second-prize tickets—one sold each in Massachusetts and West Virginia—are worth $1 million apiece. The other ticket, sold in Connecticut, is worth $2 million since they purchased the Power Play for an extra $1.

Powerball seven months ago had three jackpot winners in four drawings. A ticket sold in Maryland hit the $731.1 million jackpot on Wednesday 01/20/21. The game reset to the $20 million minimum on Saturday 01/23/21, which was won, and then another jackpot hit on 01/30/21.

Powerball tickets — Tickets shown for the Powerball lottery in Texas during June 2019. Photo by Scott McDonald/Newsweek

The last Powerball grand prize winner was on Saturday 06/05/21 for a $286 million jackpot. That ticket was sold in Jacksonville, Florida, at a Circle K convenience store. The previous Powerball grand-prize winner was 03/27/21 for a drawing worth $238 million. Previous to the last four winners, the last winning Powerball ticket was sold on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, in Maryland for the $730 million jackpot. It was the fourth-largest jackpot in the game's history. The previous winning ticket was sold back on August 12, 2020 for a jackpot worth $169 million. That ticket was sold in Florida.

Normally, the game would reset to a $40 million minimum, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced Powerball officials to cut the minimum jackpot in half, which began with the 04/11/20 jackpot.

The previous winning ticket was sold on June 10, 2020. The previous winning ticket sold was purchased in New Jersey for the 04/08/20 jackpot worth $190 million. The previous grand prize won before that was $70 million in the 02/12/20 drawing with a ticket purchased in Michigan. The grand prize winner before that was on 01/29/20. That ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven store in Bonita Springs, Florida, for the $394 million grand prize, which had a cash option of $274.6 million.

The odds of hitting the grand prize jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338, regardless of the jackpot size—according to Powerball's website.

Powerball is a multi-state lottery played every Wednesday and Saturday, and one of America's two biggest lottery jackpot games. Powerball jackpots start at $20 million, and other prizes pay from $1 million to $2 million with a Power Play. Tickets are $2. You can check the numbers for tonight, or any past winning numbers, on the official Powerball website.

There are nine ways to win money during the Powerball. Just getting the Powerball with no other numbers pays out $4, and even more if the power play is bought for an extra dollar. The same payout goes for one ball plus the Powerball, and $7 is the payout for two correct numbers with the Powerball, or three correct numbers and no Powerball.

If all five white, numbered balls are chosen but the red Powerball is not correct, then the payout is $1 million, with an even higher payout if the power play is chosen.

The other multi-state lottery is Mega Millions, which is played on Tuesdays and Fridays. Like Powerball, the jackpot is reset at $20 million after a jackpot is won, and one line of numbers is $2, with a $1 option to multiply their winnings with a Megaplier. Here is the Mega Millions website for more information, or to check any potential past numbers.