Lottery dreamers are making their way to local convenience stores, because this Saturday’s Powerball drawing will offer a jackpot of at least $478 million.
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– Powerball players will have a shot at the nation’s eighth-largest lottery jackpot this weekend, but they’ll face long odds that have resulted in almost three months without a victor.
It’s big but less than a third the size of the record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot won in January by players in California, Florida and Tennessee. This POWERBALL jackpot is the fifth largest jackpot in POWERBALL history.
Sure, you could buy a few mega mansions in Tiburon, a summer home on the Amalfi Coast and set up your own Super PAC, but Bay Area residents are curiously batting their eyes and yawning at Saturday night’s $478 million Powerball jackpot.
Earlier this month, the Mega Millions jackpot grew to $536 million – its third-highest total ever – before an IN couple bought the single winning ticket.
If nobody hits the Powerball jackpot, it will roll to an estimated $570 million ($400 million lump sum) for the August 3 draw.
Though the odds may be daunting at 1 in 292.2 million, there have been more big jackpots due to a change past year by the Multi-State Lottery Association, the group that oversees Powerball. For an extra $1 per play, you can choose Power Play to increase your non-jackpot winnings which will be multiplied by the drawing’s Power Play number.
The odds of matching all six Powerball numbers and getting the grand prize are about 1 in 292 million. Meanwhile, tickets sold in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia won the cash prize of $1 million for the other Match 5 Powerplay option. The drawing will be held Saturday night right before 10 p.m. People can purchase tickets up until 9 p.m.
Tickets are sold in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lottery players are also reminded to ask their Lottery retailers for the Power Play feature where for just an extra dollar, their prize can multiply by two, three, four, five or ten times.
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Well if you want a piece of the cash prize you have to get a ticket.
