Check those tickets – here are the winning numbers for $768.4 million Powerball jackpot

Three-quarters of a billion dollars is up for grabs Wednesday night in the Powerball, making the drawing the nation’s fourth-largest lottery jackpot ever.

The winning numbers for the $768.4 million Powerball jackpot were announced at 8 p.m.

The winning numbers are 44, 62, 20, 37, 16. The Powerball number is 12.

The odds of winning this Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The Powerball jackpot was last won in New York in December, and there have now been 25 drawings in a row without a jackpot winner.

Last year, the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot was won after 25 drawings with no winner. According to California Lottery officials, that sequence of drawings raised more than $143 million for California public schools.

If no one wins Wednesday’s jackpot, the Saturday jackpot will rise to an estimated $900 million, lottery officials said.

The jackpot may be claimed as $750 million before federal taxes as an annuity paid out over 29 years, or winners can choose the lump-sum option of approximately $465.5 million. California is one of 10 states to exempt state income tax on lottery winnings.

This is the third-largest Powerball jackpot, and about half the size of the largest lottery prize of all time, a $1.5 billion Powerball that was won by three tickets on Jan. 13, 2016.

If you’ve won less than $600, you can turn in your winning ticket at a lottery retailer in exchange for cash, according to Mega Millions’ website.

If you’ve won over $600, download a claim form from the California Lottery and deliver it to any lottery district office or mail it to 730 N. 10th St., Sacramento, CA 95811.

This story was originally published March 27, 2019 at 8:04 PM with the headline "Check those tickets – here are the winning numbers for $768.4 million Powerball jackpot."