$1.5 Billion Jackpot Awaits Saturday Night Powerball Drawing
Illinois Players Score Big Wins in Wednesday Night Drawing
CHICAGO, December 18, 2025 — The Powerball® jackpot has surged to an estimated $1.5 billion for Saturday night’s drawing, continuing the game’s holiday jackpot streak.
If won, the prize would rank as the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot and the seventh-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history.
While no ticket matched all six numbers in Wednesday night’s drawing, Illinois players still celebrated significant wins. Two Illinois players each won $200,000 by matching four numbers plus the Powerball and adding the Power Play® feature. One winning ticket was sold at Circle K in Campton Hills, and the other was purchased at Jays Unlimited Liquor in Aurora.
Additionally, four Illinois players won $50,000 each after matching four numbers and the Powerball.
The winning numbers were 25-33-53-62-66, with Powerball 17. The Illinois Lottery encourages all players to check their tickets carefully.
The current Powerball jackpot run began on September 7, 2025. Since then, nearly 1.2 million winning tickets have been sold statewide, awarding players nearly $15 million in prizes and generating more than $26 million for the Illinois Common School Fund, which supports K-12 public education.
Powerball sales also benefit local retailers, who earn commissions on every ticket sold and receive a 1% selling bonus of the prize amount on any winning ticket.
Powerball Tickets can be purchased in-store or online via the Illinois Lottery website and mobile app. Tickets are $2 each, and players can add the Power Play for an additional $1 for the chance to multiply non-jackpot prizes.
Be Smart, Gift Smart this holiday season. Lottery tickets make great gifts from adults to adults. Never give lottery tickets to a minor. For more information on how to gift and play responsibly, please go to illinoislottery.com and visit our Responsible Gaming pages.
Powerball b-roll, available for media use, download here.
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About the Illinois Lottery
The Illinois Lottery, founded in 1974, has contributed over $25 billion to the State’s Common School Fund in support of K-12 public education in Illinois since 1985. The Common School Fund is the Illinois Lottery’s primary beneficiary, receiving nearly 99% of Illinois Lottery proceeds. The Illinois Lottery also supports various specialty causes as described in the Illinois Lottery Law (20 ILCS 1605/21.4). For more information about the Illinois Lottery and the causes we support, please visit IllinoisLottery.com.