Don’t rip up your tickets yet!
Saturday night’s massive $1.3 billion Powerball drawing was delayed, putting life-changing dreams on hold for eager players.
The numbers were supposed to be drawn at 10:59 p.m. — but the numbers were still pending by 11:30 p.m.
Powerball said in a statement that the delay was due to one participating lottery needing “additional time to complete required pre-draw procedures, which have been enacted to protect the security and integrity of the Powerball game.”
Every single ticket sold nationwide must be checked and verified against two different computer systems before the numbers are drawn, Powerball said.
This process ensures every ticket has been accounted for and gives every play an equal chance to win.
“Tonight, we have one jurisdiction that needs extra time to complete that pre-draw process,” Powerball said.
The company told players to hold onto their tickets until the process is complete. The drawing will be live streamed on Powerball.com, but it’s unclear when exactly that may be.
The delay sparked outrage on social media.
“This is twice Powerball hasn’t been able to hold its scheduled drawing when it’s more than $1 billion. That has to raise some questions,” Ryan Epling tweeted.
“The Powerball isn’t rigged at all. They just need a little more time to make sure the winning ticket is drawn in California,” another skeptic posted.
“Powerball so y’all cheating or some wtf is going on??? This why ppl starting to play less and less all this suspicious activity,” one user questioned.
“So you’re telling me they had to postpone the powerball..is it because I won and they want to pick someone else cause im getting a weird feeling,” one woman quipped.
