Powerball’s enormous grand prize grew to $700 million Thursday after no one was able to match the winning numbers the previous night, lottery officials say.
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“We are at the highest jackpot amount in USA history, and who knows where it could go from here?” said Maura McCann of the New Hampshire Lottery.
The next drawing will be held at 9:59 p.m. central time on Saturday, Jan. 9.
Of the past Fort Collins winners, who took home anywhere from $1,000 to $2 million in the lower-tier Powerball prizes, most of the winning tickets were purchased at the King Soopers grocery store at 4503 John F. Kennedy Parkway. Last night, more than 10 people won a million bucks.
Powerball costs $2 for a single play for one drawing.
“When I win, don’t look for me I’ll look for you”, Bennie Martin Sr said.
What would you do with $700 million? While no one matched all six numbers, a total of 45,427 West Virginia tickets did win a prize from the Wednesday drawing so players are strongly encouraged to check their tickets before discarding them.
The payout would have had an estimated cash value of more than $300 million, before taxes, according to the Powerball website.
Powerball’s next drawing is Saturday.
“Let me get two of those tickets right quick”, Derrick Antoine told the cashier.
There was no big victor in Wednesday’s Powerball lottery.
Jackpot winners in the game can choose to receive their prize as a one-time, lump-sum payment or they can receive their winnings in 30 annuitized payments over 29 years – with the annual payment increasing over time to accommodate for inflation. On average, the chances of being struck by lightning are 1 in 3,000 during an average lifetime. Joining with colleagues and friends can increase the fun of playing, but the odds of winning are so tiny that adding 50 or 100 chances doesn’t matter much. ABC analysis of winning Powerball numbers found that if you do pick your own, it’d be smart to include 8, 54, 14, 39 and 13 – they are the most frequently drawn numbers.
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The world’s richest lottery is Spain’s annual Christmas “El Gordo” which in 2015 handed out €2.2 billion (RM10.5 billion) but which capped individual wins at €400,000 and handed out thousands of smaller prizes.
