U.S. powerball lottery jackpot surges to 800 million USD

The jackpot in Saturday's Powerball drawing surged to 800 million U.S. dollars, the largest jackpot in U.S. history, the operator said on Friday.

The Powerball lottery is an American game played in 44 States, Washington D.C., and two U.S. territories: Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

People showed great interest to the game. "I already played it," a cleaner said. "it's crazy."

It is reported that a Florida Lottery website for Powerball crashed from late Wednesday into early Thursday due to huge visit.

The jackpot reached 500 million dollars on Wednesday, when the drawing did not produce a matching ticket dollars. If no one wins Saturday, the prize will likely surpass 1 billion, according to officials.

The previous record lottery jackpot payout of North America was in March, 2012, when 656 million dollars were won in Mega Millions lottery.

A Powerball ticket costs 2 dollars. The game's jackpot starts at 40 million dollars and grows until it is won. Players choose their first five numbers from a pool of 69 and another number -- called the Powerball -- from a separate pool of 26. The game's drawings are at 10:59 p.m. EST on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The Powerball lottery was operated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). It is a non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by its 36 member lotteries. All profits are retained by the state lottery and are used to fund projects approved by the state legislatures. Endit