The growth of the Powerball jackpot has been accompanied by social media speculation about how wonderful this is for the Golden State’s public schools, which get a slice of all revenue from all state lottery sales, with the percentage depending on the product.
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But that’s not the case. And buying a heap of tickets won’t help chances much. Since then, in Pennsylvania alone, Powerball has produced a total of more than 2.1 million winners of over $22 million in prizes, including one $2 million victor and three $1 million winners. “A lot of people are putting all their extra income on Powerball because $1.5 billion is no joke”, Emaus said. Florida lottery machines are spitting out Powerball tickets as fast as they can. That’s not a sound investment.
An electronic billboard advertises the Powerball lottery Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Springfield, Ill., but can’t keep up because of a lack of space to fit the growing award for the record-breaking Powerball jackpot, which has grown to more than one billion and could rise even higher before tomorrow’s drawing. Scientists say the odds of a planet being in just the right location to sustain life is roughly 400 billion to 1, and we nailed that billions of years ago! You can spend $1 more and get a Power Play that will give you a chance to increase your non-jackpot winnings.
Another Powerball drawing failed to produce a victor on Saturday after reaching a staggering $900 million jackpot earlier in the day – by far the largest ever.
We’re entering the realm of lotteries that can push winners beyond millionaire to billionaire territory (or close enough as the lump sum payout is $930 million as of Tuesday.) It’s insane big.
Patti McFadden of Fort Myers, Fla., a lottery-playing veteran, said before Saturday’s drawing that she visited multiple Powerball sellers to improve her chances.
It is not only winning the lottery that causes people to spend.
“When the jackpots get big like this, it creates a frenzy”, said Brian Johnson, vice president of finance at Casey’s General Stores, which runs 1,900 stores in 14 states. Lottery winners can choose to take a one-time cash payout, or to receive annual payments for the next 30 years. That 1978 study, which had a very small sample size, famously found that lottery winners were not that much happier than the control group-a bunch of people who didn’t win the lottery-after their win.
Should a ME resident ascend to the highly improbable throne of winning the Powerball lottery, that person would find taxes – and that one other thing – have still followed them.
And those odds are steep – 292.2 million to one.
In fact, the “unluckiest” lucky victor, CNBC has calculated, may end up with a measly $422.2 million after everyone has taken their piece of the pie. Better yet – let the computer pick your numbers for you. And most lottery winners are statistically considered broke within just a few years.
Lustig says play your own numbers and play often. These numbers are often tied to important dates – anniversaries, birthdays, etc.
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The large jackpot has those who can’t play in their states driving across state lines – if they can.
