New Mexico Lottery officials said Powerball sales between Sunday and Wednesday afternoon were nearing $5.5 million.
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There are a number of other ways to win smaller prizes, including simply by matching the Powerball number alone – worth $4.
Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, as well as the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Officials confirmed the result after drawing the winning numbers for the world’s largest potential jackpot for a single player.
The jackpot for Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing was up to a whopping $1.586 billion, with a cash value of $930 million at the time of the drawing. After federal taxes are withheld – and Uncle Sam requires that 25% of the winnings are withheld, but the victor presumably owes closer to 40% overall – the payment is a bit under $700 million, which may face additional state withholdings.
[Former bodega owner Adam] Osmond says that when he ran his stores, he’d see people come in and start with a Powerball ticket, which is drawn twice a week and has long odds.
The highly anticipated drawing for the multi-state lottery was scheduled for 9:59 p.m. CT, but ticket sales end nearly one hour earlier at 9 p.m.
“The odds are so large”, said Scott A. Norris, an assistant professor of mathematics at Southern Methodist University, “that people don’t have any sense of what they mean”.
Bartlett said he was here last Saturday and again on Wednesday and plans to be back Saturday if no one wins.
The lottery anticipates that 85 per cent of all possible combinations will be wagered on so there is an 85 per cent likelihood of a jackpot victor on Wednesday night.
Pennsylvania and DE are the other states that exempt lottery winnings from their income taxes.
Most states also take an additional 3% to 8% of the prize money.
Power Play boosts your prize: When you buy a $2 Powerball ticket, you’ll have the option to pay an extra dollar to get a “Power Play” add on.
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So, what if you only match a few numbers, what do you win?
