US Powerball lottery jackpot balloons to record high

The jackpot in Saturday's Powerball drawing surged to 949.8 million U.S. dollars, in the largest jackpot in U.S. history.

The winning numbers for the Powerball jackpot were pulled out Saturday night, which are 32-16-19-57-34 and Powerball number 13.

The odds to win are one in 292.2 million. It is unclear if anyone has snagged the winning numbers at this moment.

A Powerball ticket costs 2 dollars. The game's jackpot starts at 40 million dollars and grows until it is won. Players choose their first five numbers from a pool of 69 and another number -- called the Powerball -- from a separate pool of 26.

The Powerball lottery is an American game played in 44 States, Washington D.C., and two U.S. territories: Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The jackpot reached 500 million dollars on Wednesday, when the drawing did not produce a matching ticket, and surged to 800 million dollars on Friday.

If no one wins Saturday, the prize will likely skyrocket to 1.3 billion dollars for next Wednesday, according to officials.

The previous record lottery jackpot payout of North America was in March, 2012, when 656 million dollars were won in Mega Millions lottery.

The Powerball lottery was operated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). It is a non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by its 36 member lotteries. All profits are retained by the state lottery and are used to fund projects approved by the state legislatures.