Cash value is a half-billion dollars
By Todd Northrop
This is the lottery jackpot every lottery player has been waiting for!
Reaching into uncharted stratospheric heights, the Saturday Powerball jackpot is by far the largest lottery jackpot the world has ever seen, and is now also the largest lump-sum cash jackpot in world history.
Just a day after the jackpot was raised to $700 million, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) has once again raised the official Powerball jackpot estimate for the Sat., Jan. 9, drawing to $800 million, with a lump-sum cash payout of $496 million.
And it may not stop there.
Players should watch for further jackpot increases before the Saturday drawing. Long lines of ticket buyers across the nation are generating lottery ticket sales at unprecedented levels. Players should avoid waiting until the last minute to buy their their tickets.
"Saturday's jackpot will be the largest jackpot of any U.S. lottery game on record. This is truly exciting and uncharted territory," said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery and chair of the Powerball game group. "We want to remind players to play responsibly and that it only takes one ticket to win."
Saturday's jackpot started at $40 million on Nov. 7, 2015, and is the result of 18 drawings with no jackpot winner.
When nobody won the jackpot on Wednesday night, the initial estimate for Saturday's drawing was established at $675 million, setting the world record for a lottery jackpot. Less than 12 hours later, that estimate was raised to $700 million. And now, less than 24 hours after the last increase, MUSL has again raised the official estimate to $800 million.
The final jackpot tally will be announced during the live draw show on Saturday night, although it's still possible the official estimate will be increased again before then.
"This historic Powerball run has players across the country excited to join the fun, driving sales and the jackpot upward, all of which is a tremendous boost for the education programs funded by the Lottery," said Rebecca Hargrove, President and CEO of the Tennessee Lottery.
Although some lottery players (and some in the news media) believe Spain's El Gordo carries the largest lottery jackpot in the world, this is not the case. El Gordo, despite being termed a "lottery" is actually a raffle-style game, and the top prize is always divided between hundreds of winners. It is like a lottery scratch game in which is the total available prize pool of up to hundreds of millions of dollars is split between thousands of winners, and is not considered a "jackpot".
A jackpot is a large cash prize that accumulates until it is won, whereas a prize pool is the total value awarded to all players of a game. Thus, Powerball has the largest jackpot in world history, while El Gordo has the largest prize pool. Some may believe this is splitting hairs, but in the lottery industry it is an important distinction, and unfortunately one that the mainstream news media cares little to differentiate.
Powerball jackpots start at $40 million and roll until the jackpot is won. Players win the jackpot by matching five numbers from a field of 69 numbers and one Powerball number from a field of 26 numbers. Drawings are conducted each Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 pm Eastern Time.
Powerball lottery results are published within minutes of the drawing at USA Mega (www.usamega.com). The USA Mega Web site provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States's two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.
Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time
Saturday's Powerball jackpot currently stands as the largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States — and in the world. The amount of the jackpot may rise even further before the drawing Saturday night, as lotteries are typically conservative in their initial estimates, and brisk sales will certainly continue to push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.
If nobody wins Saturday... well, let's not even go there.
- Powerball: $800 million, Jan. 9, 2016 - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Mega Millions: $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013 - California, Georgia
- Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 - Florida
- Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
- Powerball: $425.3 million, Feb. 19, 2014 - California
- Mega Millions: $414 million, Mar. 18, 2014 - Florida, Maryland
- Powerball: $399.4 million, Sep. 18, 2013 - South Carolina
- Mega Millions: $390 million, Mar. 6, 2007 - Georgia, New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $380 million, Jan. 4, 2011 - Idaho, Washington
- Powerball: $365 million, Feb. 18, 2006 - Nebraska
- The Big Game: $363 million, May 9, 2000 - Illinois, Michigan
- Powerball: $340 million, Oct. 19, 2005 - Oregon
- Powerball: $338.3 million, Mar. 23, 2013 - New Jersey
- Powerball: $337 million, Aug. 15, 2012 - Michigan
- Powerball: $336.4 million, Feb. 11, 2012 - Rhode Island
- Mega Millions: $336 million, Aug. 28, 2009 - California, New York
- The Big Game: $331 million, Apr. 16, 2002 - Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $330 million, Aug. 31, 2007 - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
- Mega Millions: $326 million, Nov. 4, 2014 - New York
- Mega Millions: $319 million, Mar. 25, 2011 - New York
- Mega Millions: $315 million, Nov. 15, 2005 - California
- Powerball: $314.9 million, Dec. 25, 2002 - West Virginia
For those keeping score, the number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 13
- Mega Millions: 10
- The Big Game: 2
The Big Game is the original name of Mega Millions, from the game's first drawing on Sep. 6, 1996 through May 14, 2002. The name was changed to Mega Millions starting with the May 17, 2002 drawing.
Top 25 cash value jackpots
Since many lottery winners collect their winnings in cash, the lump-sum payout is an important measure of what a winning ticket could be worth.
The new Powerball jackpot ranks as the largest lump-sum cash value jackpot in history.
- Powerball: $496 million cash, Jan. 9, 2016 ($800 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
- Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($648 million annuity) - California, Georgia
- Powerball: $258.2 million cash, Aug. 7, 2013 ($448.4 million annuity) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
- Mega Millions: $240 million cash, Jan. 4, 2011 ($380 million annuity) - Idaho, Washington
- Mega Millions: $233.1 million cash, Mar. 6, 2007 ($390 million annuity) - Georgia, New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $230.9 million cash, Mar. 18, 2014 ($414 million annuity) - Florida, Maryland
- Powerball: $227.8 million cash, Feb. 19, 2014 ($425.3 million annuity) - California
- Powerball: $224.7 million cash, Aug. 15, 2012 ($337 million annuity) - Michigan
- Powerball: $223.3 million cash, Sep. 18, 2013 ($399.4 million annuity) - South Carolina
- Mega Millions: $214 million cash, Aug. 28, 2009 ($336 million annuity) - California, New York
- Powerball: $211 million cash, Mar. 23, 2013 ($338.3 million annuity) - New Jersey
- Powerball: $210 million cash, Feb. 11, 2012 ($336.4 million annuity) - Rhode Island
- Mega Millions: $202.9 million cash, Mar. 25, 2011 ($319 million annuity) - New York
- Mega Millions: $197.5 million cash, Nov. 4, 2014 ($326 million annuity) - New York
- Powerball: $197.4 million cash, Sep. 30, 2015 ($310.5 million annuity) - Michigan
- Mega Millions: $194.4 million cash, Aug. 31, 2007 ($330 million annuity) - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
- Mega Millions: $185 million cash, Nov. 15, 2005 ($315 million annuity) - California
- The Big Game: $180 million cash, May 9, 2000 ($363 million annuity) - Illinois, Michigan
- Mega Millions: $177.3 million cash, Jan. 16, 2015 ($270 million annuity) - Illinois
- Powerball: $177.3 million cash, Feb. 18, 2006 ($365 million annuity) - Nebraska
- Powerball: $170.5 million cash, Dec. 25, 2002 ($314.9 million annuity) - West Virginia
The number of jackpot cash values in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 13
- Mega Millions: 11
- The Big Game: 1
Magnificent.
Omg that's insane! I'm in for 50 tickets, work pool and yes we have document info and copies.
I said before: if this Powerball 3 day run has the same level of sales as the old world record Mega Millions had in 1 draw (the $656 million jackpot) We will be around:
531,900,000 cash
869,100,000 annunity
Seeing as it's very possible, we will reach that level of sales. How much higher it would go past that is anyone's guess.
Yesssssssssssssssss 800 million
It's all speculation but if it's increased $100M in the last day, $1B should easily be met with essentially 2 days left. The momentum is only building faster. It's like a stock going parabolic.
$800 Million That's great!
"Anybody that wants to get mellow they can turn around and get the &^%*&^ out of here"
Ted Nugent
Wow..Holy cow , thats alot of money..Would it be right to say it's going to be 900 Million on Saturday ???
Todd we have not reached the worlds largest jackpot yet
Spain's Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad (Spanish Christmas Lottery) is generally considered to be the world's largest lottery with the largest first prize/jackpot. In 2012, the first prize was €720 million (US$941.8 million). The total prize pool in 2012 was €2.52 billion (US$3.297 billion).
$900M for sure. This is ahead of my projections from earlier this week. Definitely will approach the billion dollar mark.
the lotter down for "maintenance".
Probably too much traffic!
You did not read the article. You really should, because you are incorrect.
That article you linked even contains information that contradicts what you said:
As measured by the total prize payout, the Spanish Christmas Lottery is considered the biggest lottery worldwide.
"Total prize payout" is a prize pool, not a jackpot. Even the top prize in El Gordo is a prize pool split by hundreds of people, not a jackpot. And although El Gordo is commonly referred to as a "lottery", it is actually a raffle.
This is crazy! Good luck to everyone playing.
I also noticed the CV has now dropped to 62% of the annuity. Last time I checked it was more like 64%+
One winner
One ticket
Good Chance it'll go to: $1,000,000,000...
It's actually went back up slightly from the 61.2 it was at for the 1-6 drawing.
C'mon, stop the tease. Just jack the JP up to one billy and get it over with.
WOW!!!!! $800 Million
I hope at this rate there are a few winners splitting the pot. One winner would be insane.
I also hope people aren't draining bank accts, life savings or spending money they shouldn't
spend..the odds are horrible but someone will win. For the sake of those already in too deep,
I hope it goes Saturday.
Gl everyone. I will be getting 5 tickets at different places with pp.
Bought two lines today ,, Thinking of spending $10 on an additional ticket tommorrow morning on way from work
Wont win but you cant win if you dont play and $4-14 isn't going to kill me
This is insane!!! Good luck everyone!!!
Yeah you know there are people out there dropping $1,000, $5,000, or even $10,000 on this drawing and they will likely not win.
I bought $16 worth and that was the most I was willing to spend. I did 5 QP and I wanted to make sure to play trends for 3 tickets. Back to back number pairs will be picked, guaranteed.
I hope you are all playing trends too & good luck!
I totally underestimated this jackpot. I had thought it would have capped out 125 million or so ago. Not only is the prize insane, but the attention on the winner(s) will be a total zoo!
I agree. I think we are overdue for a repeat hit. This lottery averages .4 repeaters per drawing and has gone 18 consecutive drawings without a repeat hit!!
Wow, there are even line ups at Chinese restaurants. This is crazy!
There's obviously a better chance than ever before, but I'll still be surprised if it gets there without a roll.
MUSL obviously couldn't be sure ahead of time how big sales would be, because we're in unknown territory and because the hysteria that drives huge sales has diminished over the last few years. Neither of those invalidates all of the other data they have for making their estimates. I don't know how the pattern of sales varies from one drawing to the next, but MUSL knows. They know that if sales through noon on Thursday for a typical jackpot are $X then total sales by Saturday night will be in some range that's close to $Y. At noon on Friday they've got a bigger portion of sales to use for projection, so the range for Y gets smaller.
I'd guess the only thing they're at all fuzzy on at this point is how many last minute impulse plays there will be. Some people who rarely play or never play will decide at the last minute, and some regular players will decide to buy some more tickets. Even for that they've got enough data to make an educated guess.
I'm sure they're playing things fairly conservatively, so at this point I'd be surprised if it doesn't at least reach 850, and I won't be surprised if we see 900, but I would be surprised if their current estimate is so conservative or so far off that we see a billion. As of now we're looking at an increase of about $272 million from the final tally for Wednesday's drawing, and it will take an increase of 472 to reach a billion. That's more than a 70% increase over the current prediction.
Also 4 draws in a row without a neighboring number of adjacent hit. Very interesting indeed! Back to looking at the numbers...
keep it going for sure it will reach a billion and let it be millions of winners thats what im talking about
The Powerball.com website just put up a simple page with the upcoming jackpot amount and the winning numbers from last draw. I guess they're already getting overwhelmed and are trying to keep the whole site from crashing from people just wanting to know the basic info. Glad they're being proactive.
Yeah I saw that and that's what I immediately though. They know this will be one for the record books.
Couple years ago when they did the last record PB drawing they said they may do it at a special location if this reaches 1billion...so we may see a special televised event on saturday night too.
I can easily see this reach 900 million as the jackpot...but maybe not quite the billion dollar mark yet....
Todd,,, If i win can i get a ride in the corvette
Yes!
Everyone is pumped up, Even Uncle Sam is getting his paper works ready. He is not going to buy any tickets but still going to get his share of 25% or 39% depending where u live. How excited will this be if there was no tax .
If it hits 1 Bill, all the Led signs are going to say 000. All the stores will have to hang up cardboard signs.
They'll probably keep it at 999
At least 5 to 10 1 million winners should come from LP
Lol. Yes Uncle Sam is a winner in this. Guaranteed. Rofl!!!!
In Michigan, since the game redesign, the signs (billboards) can now be flipped from "M"illion to "B"illion. I noticed it for the first time when I went back home over the holidays, and thought it was crazy that they would even think about doing that. Not so much anymore.
Please please Lord Make it so!!! :-). I want LP to clean house on this one!
I'm curious to see what it looks like. I don't think they can add a dot between the numbers, so if it's 1.2 bill the sign will probably say 12 bill. lol
Yes its time to get paid. And if i win my family will probably need a restraining order to get me out of the house
. Because am going to hibernation until the coast is clear.
Yahoooo !!!!... Keep going baby !!!
Yeah it would be great to see any of us win something significant especially considering we make up maybe 0.0000001% of the total pool of players lol
Alright my lottery post peeps,lets do this.Good Luck.
Ran some errands, got some gas, the clerk said sales are nuts, but not for gas lol. He said "everyone is buying PB, including me, I bought one!"
The grocery store had a line and people buying $20+ worth and more. People were talking about what they would buy, one said "Oh I wont buy a huge house, just a modest one". Now I thought, with this kind of money, you would buy a modest home?
Now I have been having my own dreams on what this would be like, and what I would do and I can assure my new place would not be modest lol. This is such fun.
After what I have seen, the $$ being spent, the number of purchases and the lines with still a whole day and a half left to go, this WILL get to a BILLION. And this is just my town I see.
Keep in mind 'modest' is in the eye of the beholder. My 11,000 sq foot home might be considered modest to someone in a 22,000 sq ft home. Of course anyone with an 11,000 sq ft home probably thinks of my current fairly nice suburban home as a shanty!
Yeah, this is definitely hitting a billion, this is insane. I'm still only playing $10 worth.
Wowzers...guess I better start getting my financial team in place !!! This is crazy to potentially be a part of a $1 BILLION lottery....I love history !!!
This jackpot really came out of nowhere, and in such a short time no less.
That's how it should be, no tax. When I go to the County Fair and win a giant stuffed teddy bear I don't expect it to have missing limbs, ears, or eyes. I expect the whole thing intact. Lotteries should be the same....NO TAX on winnings!
You are very correct LottoLucy, I didnt consider that. My idea of a modest home is completely different from you or the next person!
Certainly would like that chance to get a 11,000 sq. ft. shanty hahahahahaha.
Good Luck !
Is it true that New Jersey has a special lottery tax of ~10%? It's not on usamega.com
If it does reach a billion and your wish of millions (10million) of jackpot winners comes true then it would be awesome to see them each get a $100 grand prize paid out over 30-years.....woohoo!!
Uncle Sam will get his share at 39.6% as the initial 25% is just a down payment. Must be nice to be able to pocket several hundred million and not even buying a ticket. The states that charge an income tax won't do so bad either as my state of NC will get almost $29 million if the sole ticket is purchased here
You are truly evil to speak this into existence.
I thought it was a flat %25 for gamblers tax as it says on the irs website. I never mentions that it would also count as income tax. Its says if your a professional gambler then you have to file winnings under income and not gambling winnings. I could be wrong but my financial team will fill me in on the rest. but even after 39.6% federal, 5.92% state, and 2.25% city tax. so 45.07% plus attorney and lawyer fees at $260,000,000 plus take home I am golden.
01-19-37-62-65 + 13
16-17-31-54-61 + 01
01-21-22-40-60 + 06
08-11-29-33-54 + 15
08-29-34-44-66 + 06
02-07-17-37-56 + 19
08-17-34-43-54 + 15
17-18-37-40-51 + 12
11-13-14-31-34 + 16
19-24-47-68-69 + 22
10-15-17-24-50 + 05
03-28-46-54-56 + 02
22-25-30-49-57 + 18
02-09-37-55-59 + 13
17-28-46-59-63 + 18
06-17-19-54-68 + 10
10-12-25-43-54 + 11
07-14-16-38-56 + 07
24-30-55-58-67 + 01
31-40-41-51-65 + 21
10-33-44-46-47 + 07
07-14-38-48-50 + 23
12-26-54-61-66 + 24
11-21-36-46-48 + 11
26-32-41-53-54 + 06
03-34-47-51-64 + 26
13-20-29-34-68 + 25
06-11-16-18-51 + 01
12-14-23-28-33 + 20
01-08-16-49-55 + 20
05-14-21-39-51 + 16
03-21-52-59-61 + 05
06-14-26-32-45 + 12
15-23-24-45-52 + 24
20-23-27-37-68 + 21
20-29-33-46-51 + 04
06-28-31-59-60 + 21
01-11-16-30-37 + 24
22-52-57-58-62 + 11
29-33-46-61-63 + 07
06-07-16-17-32 + 24
01-22-45-58-64 + 11
01-16-25-33-34 + 03
10-22-25-49-56 + 10
02-19-25-37-43 + 19
06-30-53-57-61 + 26
01-08-12-50-56 + 03
01-08-28-35-66 + 18
03-12-16-26-41 + 25
04-17-33-60-65 + 20
This is really exciting, I just hope this doesn't lead to Mega Millions going to $2 a ticket.
Without doing any research, just working from memory of winners' stories, willing to bet a ticket the vast majority---probably 80-90%---of those top 25 (and probably next 25) all-time prize amounts were won with quick picks.
No strategy, no boxing, no 'lucky numbers', just machine-generated randomness.
Wow!!! I only need 2 million out of the 800M!
Would be sweet!!
Good luck Thrifty if you indeed bought that many tickets. The few tickets that I bought will allow me to fantasize until I come back to reality Sunday morning.
Hi All,
First time poster, long time lurker. $800 million is just mind blowing. Strangely though, I have not seen the expected long lines at gas stations or self check terminals, in my city. Hmmmm. However, I bought a few tickets. Good luck to us all.
Sorry, I have bad news. Ellen just gave her entire studio audience today Powerball tickets. So if one of those people don't win. Ellen will! The rich only get richer! Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if one of those Kardashians win it.
It better not be a winner from out this country... Online betting that would be jacked up??
I expect a "foreign" ticket to win or at least be part of multiple winners...watch this space.
I hope its like 20 winners not just 1!
That money split 20 ways will do many families plenty good!
I dont have a ticket yet but I will buy 1 with play!
If you buy the ticket you are in.
I caved and purchased $80 tickets for myself and pitched in $10 in my pool at work. Haven't spent $ like this since Powerball went from $1 to $2. My normal purchase since the $2 change was only $2 - 4 on tickets after $200M jackpot. I think I might wager another $10 tomorrow.
It will hit tomorrow with multiple winners, no way the government will allow the lotteries to award ONE person all of this money.
You bought all those numbers?
lol that would be really messed up but funny...lol
Wow i hope it select one in the states!
pa ny nj are good picks mr computer man!!
One winner
One ticket
The odds are 292,201,393 .... Flipping really!!!
You go on and do that.
Please film your reaction if it's not the case.
Lol!!
Why not? The IRS will get paid 39.6% in federal income tax if the jackpot is won by a single person or many people.
I'm not worried about the irs
You're joking 45.07%? I only have to pay the 39.6%, if anyone wins let me turn in the tix under a contract by you that your lawyer will draw up. Money goes into a blind trust. Let me get to keep 50% of the 39+ mill that will go straight to uncle sam if you turn in the tix yourself. That way I get the publicity too so you don't have to deal with it. BOOM haha
Good time to slip out the backdoor unnoticed with winning the mega millions jackpot tonigt
You got that right... MM isn't exactly chump change tonight...
Wow, PB JP is rising something scary fast...
Finally saw the lines tonight... folks have the fever
This Powerball lottery is insane. I'm in. One Powerball lottery ticket please!
I bet these are all QP that is a bad way to play....
I can just see Obama or socialist Senator Bernie Sanders making a comment like "a billion dollar jackpot? That's too much money for one person. We're going to have to change the rules" and then claim afterwards that it's good for America.
01/08/16
It's "crap on a cracker" if you don't win more than $20.00 on your $2.00 bet; but a whole load of dung if you hit the big jackpot.
Just think of all the new friends you will automatically acquire, not to mention long lost family members.
We got to love these jackpots that are so "pie in the sky" that everyone gets so excited, even the Media is in on this issue!
but it's the average daily player that makes it possible by playing when the jackpot is at the lowest amount.
Good Luck to the average player.
If it goes over $1B it will truly be Looney Tunes!
I really like that idea to have the DRAW in a special place. Thank You, LP Member who suggested it.
The odds for PA Pick-2 is 1 in 100, and it's a struggle to win $50 on that. Powerball is ~2,922,201 times more difficult.
To put it another way, the entire population of California (~39 million) could each buy a ticket, and yet still have only a 1 in 7 chance of hitting the jackpot.
While such a large purchase would likely yield some 2nd and 3rd tier winners, a smaller sub-set may not. I regularly check PA Lottery detailed results for Powerball, and there are drawings in which the top base prize (without Powerplay) won in all of Pennsylvania is $100. And I'm not talking right after reset either. Even when the jackpot is $250+ million. Don't believe it, check out the results for Dec-26th: http://www.palottery.state.pa.us/Payouts.aspx?id=54573
12/26/15
Winning Numbers: 27 40 44 59 65
Powerball: 20 Power Play: 02
0 PA winners, jackpot rolls to $300,000,000.00
0 PA players matched 5 of 5, each receiving $1,000,000.00
0 PA players matched 4 of 5 and the Powerball, each receiving $50,000.00
22 PA players matched 4 of 5, each receiving $100.00
90 PA players matched 3 of 5 and the Powerball, each receiving $100.00
1,886 PA players matched 3 of 5, each receiving $7.00
1,658 PA players matched 2 of 5 and the Powerball, each receiving $7.00
12,569 PA players matched 1 of 5 and the Powerball, each receiving $4.00
31,705 PA players matched the Powerball, each receiving $4.00
Power Play:
0 PA players matched 5 of 5 and purchased Power Play, each receiving $2,000,000.00
0 PA players matched 4 of 5, the Powerball, and purchased Power Play, each receiving $100,000.00
5 PA players matched 4 of 5 and purchased Power Play, each receiving $200.00
22 PA players matched 3 of 5, the Powerball, and purchased Power Play, each receiving $200.00
502 PA players matched 3 of 5, and purchased Power Play, each receiving $14.00
392 PA players matched 2 of 5, the Powerball, and purchased Power Play, each receiving $14.00
3,185 PA players matched 1 of 5, the Powerball, and purchased Power Play, each receiving $8.00
8,185 PA players matched the Powerball and purchased Power Play, each receiving $8.00
So while it's worth being in the game, buying a million tickets or one makes relatively little difference given the insane odds of the game. Even hitting the 2nd tier prize is insanely difficult, since the matrix change. In short, don't bet the ranch on it. There are better ways to wager heavy - payout won't be record-breaking, but neither will the losses.
Gambling winnings are subject to a flat 25% tax. BUT, gambling winnings over $5K from sweepstakes, betting pools, and lottery are subject to income tax withholding, thus the 39.6% factor coming into play.
39.6% Withholding tax, what's the source of your statement?
First time I'm hearing that.
Ready for the estimate to jump up again.
Thrifty managed to buy every single Powerball except for 2, 8, 9, 14 & 17. 17 was the winning Powerball in Wednesday’s 523-millioner. So let’s see if he wins at least 4 bucks!
This is my first-ever post on LP, it’s an honor to be here! I’ve been lurking for a few months to a year and have kept reading up on it, but finally decided to join today. Nice to be here!
Right? Shouldn't a modest house and a truck be a 150-200k purchase? If that?
Jackpot rolling faster than Usain Bolt
Confession: I bought a 2nd ticket. Now I will have 2 in the game Saturday :-)
This has become a self-fulfilling prophesy of sorts, players have yearned for another jackpot of this magnitude ever since the record was set back in 2012.
Even I am surprised by the latest surge and the current conservative estimates put sales far higher than I anticipated.
Furthermore the probability of there being a winner, and even multiple winners, has jumped significantly from the first estimates.
If there is no winner in this draw then I am quite certain there will be in the next. And if it rolls we will hit $1 billion for sure.
Haven't seen this much excitement in the lottery in years. Too bad this can't happen more often
History in the making... Gotta get in the game'
I never post this much... Frigg'n Chatty Cathy ... Time to sign out!
Can't help it....
Is this going to be a political thread now, where people can talk about stupid things conservatives do, too?
Yeah...Powerball is loving this...first they double the price to play from 1$ to 2$ a ticket..then they add a bunch more numbers to make as many combinations in the set to almost cover...every man, woman and child in the U.S....then they tamper with the draws by throwing away all those SO CALLED PRETEST DRAWS...so yeah I would say this Jackpot is where it is because of that...
They want all those REGULAR people that dont know anything about how number fields work to buy as many of those sorry QUICK PICS as they can until a lucky person or persons get struck by Lightening sorta speak and have the right ticket...
Can you imagine or even guess how much money POWERBALL has taken in just on this Jackpot run alone...the amount is probably 3-5 BILLION in sales
AND THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN THIS IS...I DONT EVEN GET TO PLAY....I DONT EVEN GET TO BUY ONE TICKET...LOL
Who wants to be listed as the first winner of 2016 on other websites? You will be as close to immortal as anyone can be. Every time when the jackpot grows to this level your name will be remembered and talked about.
I am ready how about you?
Especially if you are the only winner.
Yes, Yes, Immortality, Fame. Let's see what else?
An $800M advertised jackpot means they're predicting sales of 270 million tickets. At that level, there's about a 40% chance that no one wins. A single winner and a two-way split are about equally likely, around 25% each. There's an 8% chance of a three-way split, and a 2% chance of four-way or more.
Can remain anonymous here so that wouldn't be of concern for me.
Welcome to the LP family!
Yes, and no. I, for one, play my own random numbers. I simulated lottery drawings with numbered scraps of paper and big zip lock bags.
I haven't jumped in the game .....yet. I am now on home time, but still in the Atlanta area. I want to load up on Florida Lotto. It's at 29 million. I'm going to make a special trip across the GA/FL state line. Then, I'll make my way back to upstate SC to load up on Mega and Powerball. I'm not going all out. I'm going to play my usual 10 lines of each but load up on draws. Good luck every one!
Welcome to Lottery Post, Soviet.
You picked a great time for your post!
Good Luck if you are a owner of PB ticket(s)
The PB site says 496million cash sum....so I assume that is the sales number? 496millon dollars on hand so to speak?
Also sorry to hear you don't get to play. Do you work for the MUSL?
Times like these are why I'm glad I don't work for the lottery...or a family member...imagine you are not allowed to buy ticket!!!
Well, I just thought that 496, was the 800 minus the Federal 25%.
Maybe, minus some other factors too. But 496 is basically liquid cash, if I understand correctly.
Liquid cash, ready for you to spend anywhere.
I was disheartened to learn that there is some IRS thing, about 39% income tax? Not sure. Yes, I am horrified.
Just went up to Tom Thumb to buy tics for the work pool. There was a guy ahead of me buying PB tics and I could see he bought 10 lines. He paid his money but just stood there for a few seconds, finally asked the clerk "are they $2 each?". Clerk says yes. Guy says "I didn't realize that".
Just reinforces that fact that there are people that never play the lottery coming out of the woodwork to get in on the action.
$496M is what they'll pay to get the $800M 30-year annuity. If you take the cash option they'll take out the 25% for the feds and whatever your state requires, meaning the actual payment you receive will be $372M or less (and you'll still owe more taxes on that beyond what was withheld, so don't spend it all at once.)
Folks falling into the lottery fever trap! The jackpot amount is irrelevant unless you are the holder of the winning ticket. Not trying to down the excitement but that is the truth. I can't personally buy a ticket so I asked my mother and brother to each buy me a $2 play. So if those are not winners, I just have to pay back $4. Meanwhile, I socked $10,000 into an account earning 10 percent interest per quarter (you have to be a military member serving in a hazardous duty zone). I can live with not ever hitting the jackpot but I can't live getting caught up in nonsensical lottery fever!
"Now I thought, with this kind of money, you would buy a modest home?"
Some winners buy more house than they need, and some buy more swords than they need. The winner can spend the money as they see fit and nobody will really care. Of course a lot of people are going to offer opinions about it, anyway.
But, I play in a 0% lotto-tax state. I don't live there, but will move there promptly, if the unlikely happens.
(or should I say, "I'll be stretchered to that state. . . ".)
So, that's where my confusion about the additional tax remains.
Okay people get confused on the different numbers so here's how I understand.
The big jackpot advertised is only an estimate of what the total would be if you took the 30yr payments.
So they take the cash sum, smaller number, and extrapolate total sum if you take 30yrs.
They only have 496mil to give out immediately. If you choose lump sum then they will give you 496mil...now you know that the highest income tax bracket is 39.6%, which you will obviously be in if you win 496million...the IRS will know and lotto winnings are taxed in that ordinary income amount.
So you take 39.6% off of the cash value (496mil) and then take off any state taxes...then the rest is take home pay.
So in the end a very rough easy way is 50% of the cash value is an estimated take home pay...so about 250 mil take home if you do lump sum option