Here’s how much people in SC spent on Powerball tickets to help grow new $1.6B record jackpot

Many South Carolinians really want to win the latest Powerball jackpot.

Strong ticket sales on Thursday helped push the Powerball jackpot to a new world record of $1.6 billion, the multi-state game operator announced on Friday.

The jackpot had reached $1.2 billion for the Wednesday drawing, which had no grand prize winner — meaning Americans spent a ton of cash over the course of a day to push that jackpot to its new record high.

The previous world record was a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot won in January of 2016.

So how much was spent on South Carolina tickets just on Thursday?

Powerball sales were $1,377,964 in the Palmetto State on Thursday, a spokesperson for the South Carolina Education Lottery told The State.

With basic Powerball tickets costing just $2 each, that total is a solid chunk of change to raise in a day.

The next Powerball drawing is set for 10:59 p.m. on Saturday.

Should someone win the current jackpot, they stand to take home a lump sum of $782 million in cash. Saturday’s drawing will mark the 40th draw in this current run. The longest run until a winner currently stands at 41 drawings.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are about 1 in 293 million.

Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.