Nobody hit the Powerball on New Year's Eve. The jackpot grows. The dream lives on.

Saturday's drawing will feature an estimated $64 million annuitized jackpot, with a cash value of $29.5 million. It's not billion-dollar territory anymore, but it's still life-changing money for anyone lucky enough to match all six numbers.

The Quick Hit

• What happened: No jackpot winner on December 31, 2025
• The damage: Jackpot now $64 million ($29.5 million cash) for January 4
• Why you should care: Smaller jackpots mean better odds of not splitting
• The move: The $2 ticket is the same price whether it's $64M or $1.8B—might as well play

The December 31 Drawing

Wednesday night's numbers were 12-24-36-48-55 with Powerball 06. Nobody matched all six.

One lucky player from Mississippi matched the first five numbers for a $1 million prize. That's the second-tier prize, and it's still a hell of a payday to ring in the new year.

The next drawing is Saturday, January 4 at 10:59 PM ET. Tickets are $2, and you can add the Power Play for an extra $1 to multiply non-jackpot prizes.

Post-Billion Reset Energy

We just came off the massive $1.82 billion winner on Christmas Eve. An Arkansas player took home the third-largest lottery prize in American history.

Now we're back to "small" money. The reset cycle always feels weird—$64 million sounds like pocket change after watching billion-dollar headlines for weeks. It's not. It's still $29.5 million in your pocket if you take the cash.

Why Smaller Jackpots Might Be Better

When jackpots climb into the hundreds of millions, ticket sales spike. More tickets sold means more potential winners. Multiple winners means splitting the pot.

At $64 million, the casual players aren't lining up. The people buying tickets this week are the regulars—the degenerates who play every drawing regardless of the number. Your odds of a solo win are actually higher when the jackpot is "boring."

The odds of hitting the jackpot are still 1 in 292.2 million. Nothing changes that. But the odds of keeping the whole thing if you win? Those get better when fewer people are playing.

The Tax Situation in 2026

Speaking of taking home money—the new tax rules that kicked in on January 1 are worth knowing if you're planning to win big.

The slot machine reporting threshold jumped from $1,200 to $2,000, but that doesn't affect lottery wins. What does affect you is the 90% cap on gambling loss deductions that's now in effect. If you're a serious lottery player who tracks their losses, you can only deduct 90% of those losses against any winnings.

For most Powerball players, this won't matter. You're probably not deducting $500 in losing tickets against a $64 million jackpot. But it's something to know about if you're playing all the games.

Mega Millions Update

The other big game has a drawing tonight (Friday, January 3) with an estimated jackpot around $157 million. Same story—nobody hit the last drawing, and the pot keeps growing.

If you're playing both games, Friday night is Mega Millions and Saturday night is Powerball. Set your reminders accordingly.

The Bottom Line

The Powerball jackpot is back to earth after the Christmas Eve billion-dollar madness. $64 million won't get the same breathless news coverage, but it'll still change your life if you hit it. The drawing is Saturday at 10:59 PM ET. Get your tickets before 10:00 PM, dream big, and remember—somebody has to win eventually. Might as well be one of us degenerates.