Powerball climbs to $675 million after no winners in draw

[January 07, 2016]   (Reuters) - There was no winner in the most recent Powerball lottery draw, the operator of the multistate game said on Thursday, with the jackpot now climbing to an estimated $675 million - one of the largest in North American history.

No Powerball ticket holder had all six numbers to claim Wednesday's $500 million prize, the Multi-State Lottery Association said on its website.

The jackpot will continue to increase, with the next draw to be held on Saturday, it said.

The last Powerball jackpot winner was in November, when a ticket holder from Tennessee claimed $144.1 million. However, that was far smaller than last year's biggest jackpots of $564.1 million in February and $310.5 million in September.

The largest-ever U.S. lottery jackpot payout was in March 2012, when $656 million was won in a Mega Millions draw.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Nick Macfie)

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.