The Powerball jackpot has reached an estimated $1.5 billion, as sales push the total higher and higher ahead of Wednesday night’s drawing.
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Drawings are at 10:59 p.m. ET on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
To win the jackpot, a ticket holder has to match all numbers on five white balls and one red ball selected at the twice weekly Powerball draw – next due on Wednesday at 3.59am GMT on Thursday.
Anita Goodwin from Hammond, Ind, buys her Powerball lottery tickets for Saturday’s $900 million multi-state drawing January 8 in Chicago.
“Saturday’s record-breaking Powerball jackpot has now broken its own record”, Carole Hedinger, New Jersey Lottery executive director said. A $2 ticket has a one in 292.2 million chance of winning the grand prize. But the jackpot would really only be $1.5 billion if the victor opts for a 29-year payout.
Even the cash option is valued at almost $1 billion [$930 million to be exact].
Whoever wins will have to pay 39.6 percent of the prize in federal income taxes, and any state taxes.
Cripe says 75 percent of all combinations have been bought.
That’s because there are more people playing, increasing your odds of sharing the jackpot with someone else (or multiple people).
He said QuikTrip stores have been busy for almost two weeks since Powerball’s jackpot first climbed into ridiculous levels.
Powerball lottery tickets in front of the splash screen for the powerball.com website.
Additionally, the Florida Lottery would like to remind all players to please play responsibly, as it only takes one ticket to win. Powerball fever must not have spread to the U.S. Virgin Islands, which also had just 10 winners per 1,000 people.
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Here’s the theory: Buying more Powerball tickets increases your odds of winning.
