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One lucky punter in the U.S. could win a life-changing amount of money in a few hours.

The Powerball, one of the most popular lotteries in multiple states, recently hit US$1 billion (S$1.413 billion) in prize money after the previous drawing on Saturday night (Sunday, Oct. 30 Singapore time) failed to match a ticket that had all five numbers, and the "Powerball", a bonus sixth number.

According to CNN:

"Saturday’s winning numbers were: 19, 31, 40, 46, 57, with a Powerball of 23.

Seven tickets matched five numbers, but not the Powerball, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. Six tickets won a $1 million prize, and one ticket sold in Florida won $2 million by including the Power Play feature."

If a winner still isn't found, the pot could swell to as much as US$1.2 billion (S$1.696 billion).

According to a statement from Powerball, quoted by CNN, the last winner of the lottery was in Aug. 3, winning US$206.9 million (S$292 million).

Since then, there have been 37 drawings in a row with no grand prize winner.

According to Fox 5 on Nov. 1, the winning numbers were 13-19-36-39-59, Powerball: 13, Power Play: 3.

Not an automatic billionaire

However due to U.S. tax rules, a winner may not become a billionaire straight away.

Forbes states that a winner may claim their prize in one of two ways -- taking the entire prize in annual payments over 29 years, or to take a smaller amount of cash up front. According to CNN, that would be US$596.7 million (S$843 million).

It would be subject to an initial federal tax of about 24 per cent, and the winner would also owe additional taxes at higher brackets.

In Singapore, according to IRAS, winnings from bets or the lottery are considered windfalls, not income. Winners are therefore not obliged to declare their winnings in their income tax return.

Top image by Jake Sullivan via Getty Images.