Powerball Jackpot Exceeds $300 Million in Maryland

Who wants to be a millionaire?

The Powerball jackpot bumped up about $20 million Tuesday after anticipation built around the jackpot amount, according to a Maryland Lottery official.

Spokeswoman Erica Palmisano said as the jackpot exceeded $300 million Tuesday morning, people started buying tickets—causing the payout to shoot up to $320 million and making it the fourth largest Powerball jackpot since it began in 1992.

“Clearly people are very excited about it,” Palmisano said. “We’re hoping Maryland has a winner.”

The odds for winning the pot are about 1 in 175 million, she said, and those odds don't change no matter how many people buy tickets. 

A 58-year-old Fort Washington man won a $1 million second-tier Powerball prize in May, one of two second-tier winners in Maryland this year.

Since Maryland became one of 42 states to play Powerball in January 2010, the state has had two jackpot winners, one for $128 million and the other for $108 million, according to Palmisano.

The drawing airs Wednesday evening on the local NBC affiliate station at 11:22 p.m.

Some stores in the Broadneck area that sell Powerball tickets include: