Powerball jackpot increases to $1.5 billion

OMAHA, Neb. -- The Powerball jackpot has grown to $1.5 billion, and the jackpot could grow even more before Wednesday's drawing if ticket sales remain intense.

The prize was already the world's largest before lottery officials increased it Tuesday.

No one matched all six Powerball numbers Saturday night, leading to the astronomical prize.

The jackpot is so big that billboards in Texas and around the country have to advertise the price as $999 million because they're not built to show billions. The lottery computers will handle the decimal point without a problem.

"We've never been at these levels," Texas Lottery executive director Gary Grief said.

The odds to win are one in 292.2 million. Seventy-five percent of all the possible combinations were purchased before Saturday's drawing, Grief said, and he expects that enough tickets will be sold to cover about 80 percent by Wednesday. About 95 percent of Powerball tickets have computer-generated numbers.