Powerball jackpot reaches record-high amount of $800 million

If you haven’t bought your Powerball lottery tickets yet, you probably should.

Lottery officials confirmed Friday that Saturday night’s drawing will be for a record $800 million. The ever-increasing jackpot is a result of strong national sales ever since the jackpot was near $400 million just days ago.

If the winner of Saturday night’s drawing elects to take the one-time cash payout they will receive $496 million.

Although the jackpot amount is increasing, the odds of winning remain with the same with a one in 293 million chance of winning, officials said.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 11:25 AM.