NEWS

Powerball reaches $348M ahead of Wednesday night's drawing

Steph Solis

USA TODAY

Powerball tickets purchased in advance of the Jan. 13, 2016 drawing of the nearly $1.6 billion jackpot. The holders of the ticket purchased in Melbourne Beach, Fla., will be identified Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016 in Tallahassee.

Lotto buyers have a shot to win $348 million Wednesday night, the second highest jackpot in the past year.

Wednesday's Powerball drawing doesn't come close to the record $1.586 billion jackpot in January, but it's grown steadily over the last 17 drawings since the last winner claimed the money on March 2 to the current value (or $226.1 cash option), ABC News reported.

And it will only grow larger if there is no national winner at the 11 p.m. ET drawing. The chances of that are slim at best: 1 in 292,201,338, according to the New York Lottery.

Delaware Public Media estimates that if there are no national winners Wednesday, the jackpot could break into the list of top 10 prizes of all time.

The Powerball algorithm was adjusted to make it harder for people to win the lottery, resulting in fast-growing jackpots like the one in January that was split among three winners.