It’s been growing since the last Powerball jackpot victor on November 4 and will keep climbing if no one wins the big prize on Wednesday.
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Powerball is sold in 44 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They are not sold in Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada and Utah.
The drawing takes place at 9:59 p.m. Wednesday.
The last time the Powerball jackpot had grown this large was last February, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize.
In the past 13 years, 16 Powerball jackpot winners have bought their tickets in Pennsylvania, more than any other state.
No one has matched all six numbers in one of the bi-weekly drawings since the first of November. For $2 they took a chance in Saturday’s $334 million drawing that paid off.
As of Wednesday evening, the prize had a $306 million cash value before taxes.
The odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292.2 million, which means players are really, really, really unlikely to win.
It was initially set for $400 million, but lottery officials say the surge in ticket sales caused an increase.
Many said they don’t play the lottery unless it gets to be a big pot like it is now. When asked how she deals with the long lines, Minter said, “Got to be patient”.
LANSING, MI -Michigan residents – or should we call them “dreamers” -are expected to purchase 3 million tickets today for a chance to win tonight’s near-record $500 million Powerball jackpot. Players have a chance to win by matching five numbers from a field of 69 numbers and another number out of 26.
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The largest-ever USA lottery jackpot payout was in March 2012, when $656 million was won in a Mega Millions drawing. Four Michiganders won the game’s $1 million prize past year.
