Powerball Website Unresponsive as Jackpot Approaches $300 Million

By Scott McDonald On 8/22/21 at 7:10 PM EDT

The Powerball website was down almost all of Sunday, leaving many to wonder if they hit the $290 million jackpot on Saturday night.

The answer is no.

There were no grand prize winners from the 08/21/21 Powerball on Saturday, and the jackpot now increases to $293 for the newly-implemented second chance that goes into effect Monday.

Here are the numbers from the Saturday night 08/21/21 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.

According to Texaslottery.org, the estimated Powerball jackpot for 08/23/21 is approximately $293 million, with a cash option worth $214.2 million. Not every state that carries the Powerball game will provide the second-chance option Monday.

The Powerball website wasn't accessible for more than 23 hours, according to isitdownrightnow.com, which constantly checks the URL to look for responses, and then shows how long it's been unresponsive.

The game's website shutdown for nearly an entire day to get ready for the upcoming new "Double Play" drawing for Powerball, which begins Monday at 11 p.m. ET.

Powerball Ticket — A Powerball ticket sold in Texas during September 2019. Scott McDonald/Newsweek

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

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.