BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The largest Powerball lottery jackpot in history is on the rise again. Monday the grand prize was bumped up to a staggering $500 million. Over $132,000 worth of tickets were sold every minute last night.

The jackpot has now increased by $175 million since the drawing of November 24. The cash option payout is now an estimated $327.4 million.

Last night's winning numbers are as follows:

5, 16, 22, 23, 29...and the Power Ball is 6

The $500 million total comes as a result of 15 consecutive Powerball drawings without a winner. Due to rapid ticket sales, the game also expects to offer nearly $70 million in cash prizes after Wednesday's drawing.

Powerball announced over 2 million non-jackpot winners for the drawing on Saturday, Nov. 24. The winning numbers were 22, 32, 37, 44, and 50 with a Powerball of 34. 

CLICK HERE FOR THE POWERBALL WEBSITE'S OFFICIAL RESULTS

Chuck Strutt, Director of the Multi-State Lottery Association, said Powerball is selling at an average rate of 105,000 tickets per minute across the U. S., according to Lottery Post. “We expect sales to remain strong until game close for Wednesday night's drawing," he added.

According to Newser, jackpots for Powerball and Mega Millions are growing at quicker rates partly because states that play both games agreed to sell to one another in 2010. A larger amount of players means jackpots jump to higher numbers faster, then others hear about the grand prize, and even more people play.

Powerball has sold more than $714 million since the current prize started at $40 million in early October. More than $1 billion in tickets may yet be sold by Wednesday’s drawing.

Some of that money generated two second prize winners from New Jersey in Saturday’s drawing. The two tickets each matched the first five Powerball numbers without having the Powerball to win $1 million. NJ1015.com reported that the tickets were sold at Ferry 99 Cents in Newark and Blitz’s Market in Cape May Court House.

Meanwhile, like the rest of the nation, New Jersey continues to try for the grand prize. A 7-Eleven in Cherry Hill sold more than 1,500 tickets before noon on Tuesday, according to the Courier Post. Strutt said, “Typically, 60 percent of sales occur the last day.”

The game closes at around 10:00 pm, so don’t be late. Powerball drawing takes place at 10:59 pm. Stay with us here, because the jackpot may rise again before that time.