TRENTON (Dec. 31, 2021) – The Powerball jackpot continues to climb ahead of the New Year's Day drawing. The jackpot estimate was increased from $483 million to $500 million ($355.9 million cash value) for the Saturday, January 1 drawing. This will be Powerball's first drawing on New Year's Day in two years.

"For New Jersey players who have their ticket for Saturday night's Powerball drawing, it just might be a great start to 2022," said New Jersey Lottery Executive Director James A. Carey, Jr. "I'd like to remind players to purchase their Powerball tickets with a winning attitude and add Power Play to the ticket purchase. Power Play doubles the second prize from one million dollars to two million dollars and multiplies all of the seven lower prize sets available in the game by the Power Play number drawn that evening. The jackpot prize is not multiplied."

Playing the lottery is a form of entertainment and players are urged to keep in mind the importance of playing responsibly!

No ticket matched all six numbers drawn in last Wednesday's drawing – the final Powerball drawing of 2021. However, four New Jersey Lottery tickets matched four of the five white balls and the Powerball drawn for the Wednesday, December 29, drawing winning the $50,000 third-tier prize. One of those tickets was purchased with Power Play, multiplying the prize to $100,000. Those tickets were sold at the following locations:

• Union County ($100,000): Krauszer's Food Store, 727 Central Ave., Westfield;
• Bergen County ($50,000): 7-Eleven #34523, 29 County Rd., Tenafly;
• Burlington County ($50,000): Quick Chek #140, 500 US Highway 130, Bordentown; and,
• Camden County ($50,000): Acme #2974, 400 Cuthbert Blvd., Westmont.

The winning numbers for the Wednesday, December 29, drawing were: 02, 06, 09, 33, and 39. The Red Power Ball number was 11. The Power Play was 2X. There were 74,619 other New Jersey players who took home an estimated $384,174 in prizes ranging from $4 to $200. The Powerball jackpot rolls to $483,000,000 for the Saturday, January 1, drawing.

Double Play Results

The Double Play drawing is an additional drawing for players who opted-in to the Double Play feature on their tickets. The Double Play drawing results for the Wednesday, December 29, drawing were: 43, 51, 53, 63, and 68. The red Double Play Power Ball number was 05.

The Powerball jackpot was last hit in California in the Oct. 4, 2021 drawing when a single ticket won a massive $699.8 million grand prize. That jackpot ranked as the 5th largest in Powerball history and the 7th largest in U.S. lottery history. Since then, there have been 37 drawings in a row without a jackpot winner.

It's been a big year for Powerball. On August 23, 2021, Powerball launched a new Monday drawing, which expanded the weekly lineup of Powerball drawings to three nights a week: Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. A new add-on feature called Double Play® was also launched in 13 U.S. lottery jurisdictions. Powerball tickets that include Double Play for an additional $1 per play are eligible to win prizes in both the Powerball drawing and a separate Double Play drawing. Instead of a rolling jackpot, Double Play offers a $10 million top cash prize.

Powerball tickets are $2 per play. Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds from the sale of a Powerball ticket remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. Powerball drawings are also live streamed online at Powerball.com.