Record Powerball jackpot could crown the first lottery billionaire
By Todd Northrop
For the third time in three days, the multi-state Powerball lottery jackpot has been raised to levels only dreamed about.
What if one person becomes a billionaire from a $2 lottery ticket? That's certainly a potential scenario tonight, when the numbers are drawn for the biggest lottery jackpot the world has ever seen.
Powerball offers two jackpot payment options: the $900 million jackpot prize paid over 29 years in 30 graduated payments; or the cash option, which is now estimated at $558 million.
And that may not be as big as it gets. We will only learn the final jackpot tally during the live draw show, which happens at 10:59 pm Eastern Time (7:59 pm Pacific) tonight.
Anyone looking to play Powerball in tonight's drawing and has not yet purchased their tickets should not hesitate to get to the store right away.
If you're not sure where to buy your tickets, head right over to the Lottery Places website to download the free app on your phone or Windows 8 or Windows 10 computer. Lottery Places is the only app on the market that will locate lottery retailers in every state and jurisdiction throughout the United States.
Due to the overwhelming demand to see the winning numbers tonight after the drawing, players are advised to first check USA Mega (www.usamega.com) because that website is more likely than most to be up and running. The crush of players checking their numbers all at once will completely disable most other websites.
"You can throw out the logic. You can throw out the statistics," Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery, said Friday. "We've never seen jackpots like this. It's a new experience for all of us."
So many people were buying Powerball tickets in Iowa on Friday that lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer said some stores were running out of paper for tickets, leaving lottery workers scrambling to resupply the outlets.
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. Less than 24 hours after that, MUSL again raised the official estimate to $800 million. And now, 24 hours later, they raised it once again to $900 million.
"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: $900 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: $558 million cash, Jan. 9, 2016 ($900 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
I have a feeling that the jackpot will be won tonight!
900 million............ oh my god, it's getting so close to a billion!
Maybe I'll get just a couple more.
06-40-43-46-61 + 17
01-02-24-30-55 + 04
13-45-52-62-69 + 02
09-47-62-64-67 + 02
12-32-53-60-63 + 17
10-20-21-54-66 + 20
10-33-45-47-63 + 09
08-16-25-39-50 + 22
13-34-51-55-63 + 18
09-28-38-43-57 + 14
08-20-29-43-49 + 04
20-27-30-38-61 + 02
25-26-35-41-46 + 12
02-04-26-29-41 + 07
20-29-48-63-66 + 17
13-39-41-64-69 + 17
22-29-53-61-68 + 22
10-19-36-43-48 + 01
16-26-40-52-67 + 21
09-30-37-39-60 + 07
04-13-28-44-67 + 07
05-07-17-27-41 + 20
02-11-13-47-53 + 09
31-47-50-53-66 + 11
06-12-48-49-52 + 22
14-18-21-39-40 + 12
08-18-19-26-49 + 22
04-14-35-40-60 + 14
10-32-49-50-55 + 17
05-21-23-68-69 + 12
04-10-35-36-46 + 26
01-30-40-50-61 + 20
02-08-44-62-64 + 11
21-26-31-44-64 + 17
07-12-25-27-39 + 12
02-14-32-53-57 + 02
17-28-32-39-47 + 21
01-16-35-39-45 + 10
28-33-35-59-61 + 23
14-27-40-55-66 + 01
04-16-29-43-66 + 03
11-19-45-51-69 + 01
09-35-39-41-68 + 18
03-32-54-60-63 + 21
18-24-51-52-62 + 08
10-16-37-46-48 + 15
03-11-14-44-47 + 23
02-40-42-56-69 + 20
20-29-42-57-67 + 19
08-24-33-42-56 + 03
Me too! Just a few more.
Running out to buy an AED Defibrillator and place it next to me as I check my numbers, just in case.
Good Luck All!!!!!!!!!!!!
$900 million- that number is scary good. Gonna be won by a LP member- just watch!
Its not going to roll over because I am taking this one tonight. However, let's hypotheticaly say it does roll over...could it reach 2 billion?
7 more days until my Birthday, what a great gift to me, lol
Lol
One ticket
One winner
With the high number of tickets sold, there will be at least one winner and probably more than one winner.
One more thing is also guaranteed: many lottery websites will be have very slow response or will be inaccessible tonight around 11pm to midnight or 1am EST
Hi Todd, thanks for another great article! Incidentally, in third paragraph I noticed an error -- please remove the word "graduated."
Kudos, I'm ready to claim this most exciting yet jackpot this week.
Why would I remove that word? That's exactly how the payments are made. They increase each year.
If you're weren't aware of that, go to the Jackpot Analysis page at USA Mega and click the Annuity Payment Schedule link next to your state.
specially if I get that single ticket winner
Should I purchase an extra ticket?
Sure, if you have an extra $2, this month, why not?
I'm headed out to buy a couple more lines myself here in a few minutes. Just a couple. Gotta save some money in case it rolls over.
....with 10 more hours of purchasing to go.
I predict 6 winners.
I'm predicting 6 winners!!!
I like 7
Lets hope I'm 1 of them.
Good luck to everyone on LP tonight!
It's gonne ba a jungle in the nations 7-11s and gas stations.
OH...OH....OH..OH...OH...OH...OH...OH....OH.....OH..... STOP! (PAUSE) HAMMER TIMER!!
HIGHER LOTTERY JACKPOTS=HIGHER LOTTERY SALES.
at best, three ticket jackpot holders. 1 will be a motley gang who worked in a factory. The other two holders will be one hit wonders, who on a whim got a ticket.
I'll go so far as to say the pb will be #6, or #26.
How ironic it would be if a office pool of tax collectors won lol.
Yes, Thanks be to the Fire Departments, Police, Ambulances, Sheriffs, State Police, US Judicial department, and we can never forget our Armed Forces protecting America. Sometimes these are thankless jobs that are not recognized the way they should be.
May I include some politicians who are not thanked and recognized.
I forgot Nurses, Doctors, Psychiatrists, Counselors,
I might as well say,"God Bless America"!
There's about a 78 percent chance there will be a winner tonight with close to 429 million tickets sold.
OH MY..... what can I say ????? YAHOOO !!!!
sully16, Is your birthday January 16th? What a wonderful birthday present this could be for you! You would make all LP Members proud to be here on this site with you.
My birthday is January 22,
Somebody wrote about Marie Holmes winning this one. I think there will be riots in that case.
The lottery seems to projecting, at this point, $741M in sales, the number of tickets being sold being half that, to produce a $900M jackpot.
The Poisson distribution for this number of tickets sold, assuming random generation of tickets, produces the following probabilities for numbers of winners:
Although a single winner is the single most probable outcome, followed by a rollover, no single outcome outweighs the combined others. Anything can happen. There is a significant possibility that the game has now become a $450M (annuity) or a $300M (annuity) game for any winners.
As things proceed, a rollover becomes less and less likely, although not impossible. (It is really very, very, very, unlikely that the entire field will be covered as the target for unchosen numbers becomes smaller.)
The expectation value, because of the possibility of smaller jackpot prizes being awarded because of a larger number of winners, is now 0.85, pretax cash basis.
These calculations don't take multiple identical/duplicate entries into account, correct?
Powerplay should be 10x today. I dont care about the jackpot anymore, second tier will be great for me
You guys do know if it's just 1 winner the media so going to do this outside to the winners neighborhood right?
- Well, obviously we have the media out in Lincoln Park. Their knocking on your doors, snatchin’ your people up, tryin’ to interview ‘em. So y’all need to hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husband cause they’re interviewing’ everybody out here.
btw Todd, how prepared are you for the flood of heavy traffic happening later tonight?
- Todd's servers this evening.
I hope someone wins this big jackpot tonight.
No matter if the powerplay is 10x, the 2nd tier will still only be 2 million.
Happy Early Birthday and good luck to you.
Hopefully someone will post the numbers after the drawing. I'm fairly certain Powerball's website will crash.
Also, the 10x powerplay is only applicable to jackpots at or below $150 million.
USA mega, the sister site to LP is always on the money with positing timely results and it can handle the traffic. Todd works around the clock on a normal day so I can only imagine how hard he is working now.
THANKS TODD FOR ALL YOU DO!
I'm going to do all I can do to keep Lottery Post and USA Mega up and responsive. Expect at the very least some slowness as millions of people hit the sites all at once.
Thank-you Todd for your accurate and up-to-the-minute Lottery News!
Whenever I see the name Todd Northrop in an article about The Lottery, whether at Lottery Post or, elsewhere, I always read the article because I know the information will be both informative and, accurate!
Thanks again Todd!
This makes me smile, thanks!
While everyone was hee hawing i said first on Wednesday January 6th 1:20pm in the threads hours before last Wednesdays powerball draw that went to 524 million that it would hit a billion dollars on Saturday the 9th with no winner. Don't hee haw people. Take a stand early and make a prediction right or wrong. Early bird gets the worm.
While im 1 for 1 lets make another early prediction. No one will win tonight. It will roll to 1.6 billion for next Wednesday nights draw and a single ticket will win it all at that time.
Good luck and may one of us win it all. If we do lets do Todd a favor and wear one of his lotterypost t-shirts/tank tops to the press conference!
While we are all having delusions of grandeur right now let me go all the way with it. If i win the press conference will be held at the "TRUMP HOTEL LAS VEGAS". The press conference table will be for seven people. Dad, Mom, Brother, Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, Todd, and Me of course!
Todd you in?
I know that, i just think will be nice to win 500k for 4+PB
Sounds like fun, I'm in.
No hee-hawing, I promise.
Though the hard data involved isn't presented, since it was established to be based on sales, repeat tickets would seem to be within the parameters. This is verified through the percentage calculations of possible multiple winners. Without accountable multiple entries a multiple winner scenario could not exist. Just my observation, however.
If nobody hits this tonight, it will be worth $1.3 billion dollars!!! The power ball folks who decided to change the number matrix must be giving themselves high fives for their decision.
Does anyone that lives in Orlando, know the time and the station, that televise the drawing??
I would leave the country so fast
I'm sure our local stations will be showing the draw live tonight, they did the last time the lotto jackpot was large.
Channel 6, 10:59
Also.....You can watch the drawing live on ClickOrlando.com. Download the free News 6 App to watch the drawing live.
I'm thinkin this won't roll. As strong as sales are, probably EVERY number combination available has been sold. I wonder how many winners there could be. If birthday numbers are drawn I wouldn't be shocked to see up to 25 jackpot winners.
9 hours to go.
Yes, a big thank you to Todd for all the hard work he puts in.
I noticed that the Lotter site has been down for almost 24 hours now.
Quite possibly they can't handle all the sales coming their way.
I just read a yahoo article, saying I would only take jome 255 million and usamega said 300 and something. How do I calculate lump sum after taxes?
Based on lines I'm seeing where there are normally none, they may raise this to $1,000,000,000.00 PRIOR to the drawing....we shall see!
Yes they do. The show the probabilities of various numbers of winners assuming a randomized sampling, and the expectation value is weighted for the size of the prizes that would be won by multiple winners.
https://www.usamega.com/powerball-jackpot.asp
Go to a tax estimator and fill in your info for a quick estimate. I like turbotax myself.
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/
The Billboard along the highway now reads "OVER 900 Million"
I just bought my last 2 tickets at noon at Albertson's. Nobody was at the machines at all. I glanced over to the customer service desk and there was only one person. Dunno if he was buying Powerballs or not. No fever in Idaho!
65% chance there will be a winner tonight
Looks like your not the only one, I"m reading an article with Twitter posts and many cannot get in.
That site is on overdrive!
I just checked for funsies. The site is up but the option to play Powerball for this historical drawing has closed.
I'm not a tax lawyer/CPA, but I just take the cash value and multiply it by .604 (the inverse of .396) to account for federal taxes. I don't have a state tax, so $558 million is worth $337 million to me. The "25% federal withholding" is just how much they take out, you still have to pay the rest of it yourself, meaning the check will come for $418.5 million and I'll have to write another check to the IRS for $81.5 million or so.
Yeah, deductions can reduce that, but lottery winners lose up to 80% of deductions (including for charity) because of something called the Pease limitation. There's no limit on gambling losses against wins, though, so if I lose $1m playing blackjack at Caesars Palace the IRS gives me $396,000 in a break, but if I give $1m to a charity I get $79,200. Again, not a lawyer/CPA, but it seems like you should do charity because you want to, not for the tax break.
hmm so right now saw about a 75-80% chance of a winner and 1.3B to start if it rolls
ANNUITY ALL THE WAY BAAAAAABYYYYYY! lol. She will roll. Wednesday is the big day, not today, not today.
NO WAY this will roll! Unthinkable!
I'd love to see it.
I think Steve Harvey should announce the winner of this!
Oh boy... if it rolled... I would not want to be a clerk selling tickets to all the maniacs the next few days.
Yes, I examine that jackpot analysis, often.
And, I'm so glad to be living near to a no-lotto-tax state, where I go to play.
My lame heavy-lotto tax state, rarely gets my business anymore.
Oh No!
I don't think he'd be allowed.
I "think" you would still owe state taxes because its based on where you live when you win. I'm no CPA so take it for what its worth.
Please, don't even joke about a thing like that.
That's so ludicrous. If that were the case, there'd be riots outside of every 7/11 and Circle K store.
Please, Folks, chime in. I don't want to be known as the "billionaire lotto winner", and only have 300 to my name. Though I'm positive I won't win anything significant tonight.
(and probably the state capitol building too)
You get to dream the same dream for $2 with one ticket that someone who buys 1,000 tickets.
The only thing is, after the both of you find out you didn't win, you say oh well, there's always next time. While the person who spent $2,000 on tickets says...Oh SH*T, how am I going to pay my (rent, mortgage, car payment, credit card payments...etc)
Play with your head....Not over it.
No apparent lotto fever in Idaho?
WOW!
What does happen in Idaho, besides potatoes?
A lot of people are saying that, but they either have absolutely no idea how many combinations will be sold or they have a really funny idea of "no way", "won't", "incredibly unlikely" or most of the terms being used. Even if it hits a billion 20% of combinations will still be unsold. That means we should expect at least a 1 in 5 chance that it will roll again.
The part that puzzles me the most is people thinking there's so little chance of another roll when it's still several million times more likely than them having a winning ticket.
No joke ... Most folks would clear around 300 million after taxes if taking the lump sum.
MUSL may be overestimating sales. We'll see tonight. Unlike some in-state lotteries, MUSL does not honor its estimates. At least they didn't back in 2013 when they touted a $600 million annuity Powerball jackpot, and yet the Florida winner was only awarded ~$590 million...
Most didn't notice that deception. However, this time around, if MUSL raises the estimate to $1 billion and only pays out, say $940 million, many will notice that, and talk about it; some feeling cheated. Hopefully, MUSL is extra careful before raising the estimate again to $1 billion.
That is why they say...The estimated annuitized jackpot is....
That way it can go either way, higher or lower.
But, that's such a doggone rip-off. Why should over half go to taxes.
Generational wealth... good luck my fellow members
Good luck to you too.
Didn't she take the lump sum anyway?
As my Favorite 80's band Europe would say it........"It's the Final Countdown" Good luck everyone!
Europe - The Final Countdown
That's a good point.
(but "meatman"? What is he a butcher, or something)
Will it be ?????
Too doggone funny.
Putting "estimated" or an asterisk may be sufficient, but not necessarily in regards to deceptive advertising. Worse, not all Powerball jackpot advertising even includes those elements...
For example, see NY Lottery website. http://nylottery.ny.gov/ - "NEXT JACKPOT: $900 MILLION". Notice what's not included next to the $900 million. No "estimate", no asterisk, nothing. At first glance, it appears the Powerball jackpot is definitely $900 million. And that's just one example out of many.
What happens in Idaho stays in Idaho.
Mainly because happenings are so dang boring that you can't pay someone to even listen to you tell about what happened, let alone spread gossip about what happened.
Quick illustration. For NYE Idaho has a potato drop. Yes, we molded a humongous <snip> potato out of foam rubber and at the stroke of midnight it drops off a crane or something while everyone cheers.
Over half doesn't go to taxes.
You get the estimated amount only if you take the annuity. If you take lump sum, you get a one-time cash payment of what the lottery would have invested on your behalf to generate the annuitized value over 29 years.
Federal tax of 25% and part of the state taxes is withheld from the payment. When you file your 1040 tax form, you will have to pay the difference. That would be 14.6% (federal maximum tax of 39.6% - 25% which was deducted from payment) plus remaining state and or local taxes.
Any way you look at it, you will end up with about 51-60.4% of whichever payment method you choose.
Hot Idaho girls flirting with you.
Greetings ...
BTW -- This is my very post as a Lottery Post member
I'm hoping that those wanting to see a super-humongous single winning ticket will have a wicked curve thrown at them tonite. In what way, you ask?
Simple -- let there be at least 10 winning tickets and possibly as many as 20 winners when it's all done. Of course, I'd like to be one of those 10 to 20 lucky winners.
I'm sure that other posters have posted up sound advice for those lucky enough to win all or a part of the PowerBall Grand Prize elsewhere, but if not minded I think it's only fair to give it out again.
If you win --
»1» Don't tell anyone other than your legal and financial advisors. If you're part of an office pool or family group who are sharing the winning ticket with you, then they are the only non-legal folks who need to know
»2» Establish a legal trust (either for yourself alone or with those mutually agreeing to share the prize). In many states, a trust may help to to keep you (and others) anonymous, thus protecting your identity. Of course you should always check out the specific rules in play for the state where you are claiming your winning ticket.
»3» Spend no more than 10% (less than that would be great) of your after taxes share within the first year. At least 65% of what is not spent should go into special reserve accounts, while at least 35% of what is not spent should go into a cash flow account. The purpose of the cash flow account is to place a fixed amount of money into regular bank accounts each month. Your lifestyle should be simple, non-extravagant and a rigidly fixed flow of cash should help keep you on a straight and narrow path.
That's about it.
Thanx-A-Lot and best of luck to all,
Frank0Sport16
Inquiring minds are wondering if Marie Holmes is blowing the rest of her Mega Millions winnings in an effort to win Powerball?!
If you take the lump sum, they take 25% out in taxes before you even get it, then the following April, it's something like another 15%, provided you live in a state with no taxes or one that doesn't tax lottery winnings and provided you're the only winner, you come home with roughly $355,725,000. I don't know about anyone else, but I wouldn't complain.
My birthday is in January as well.
Texas lottery official said the "billion" word. Gary Grief has said on CNN with Poppy Harlow that if it rolls then a conservative estimate would be $1.3 Billion dollars for Wednesday night. I think he is being too conservative. I guess that is normal for lottery officials.
I will not be surprised if tonight we are playing for a billion.
Anyone still think the matrix change was a bad idea?
Howdy Frank
Wicked curve ball at all those dreamers? Ouch Frank
So it's simple- can you back that up with some facts and figures... 10-20 seems kinda high to me
WOW!!!!$900 million !!!!
Keep waiting for Todd to announce it has gone to $1 Billion. Maybe they won't allow since all the LED signs I've seen in surrounding states only have three spots available!
My birthday is the 21st.
And the winner is Eddie Tipton, lol
I hate deceptive advertising. But, I may not think it's too impossible.
When I think of all the people betting tonight, losing sleep over how much they'll play, thinking about the food they're taking of their kids mouths, etc. (I have no kids).
I got my tickets, and I don't even know how many. I got enough to make me feel guilty, and still left believing/knowing I won't win a dime.
So, why do I do it? That's the question.
Because, it's the biggest thing going on today!
Nothing compares to this event, this evening, at 11:00 PM Eastern Time.
This is History. I've never been part of a historical thing.
Remember to save your tickets, tonight, if they're not significant winners.
Or, at least remember to ask for a receipt. It should be worth something on ebay some day.
The winner will need to ask the IRS about "estimated quarterly tax payments". This is a common tax payment by businesses. The amounts will be incredible.
BDUB211, I agree with your figure of $355,725,000.00 Lump Sum for this $900 million jackpot.
I think some people look at the size of the current jackpot and think that number of tickets was sold in the current drawing. The odds are 1 in 292+million. 10 people won't beat those odds. I say 6 at best.
Happy Birthday.
That does it, if I win this jackpot tonight I was planning to change my name to remain anonymous. My new name WILL be Eddie Tipton.
Sully, now that is funny AND scary, all at the same time! Good one though. Good Luck to you tonight.
I had a long day. I got up at 4:30 and drove down across the Florida line to play 10 lines of Florida Lotto for 20 draws. Then drove home to South Carolina. I stopped at my favorite store to load up on Mega and PB. The Travelintrucker is officially in the 900 Mil jackpot draw tonight. Good luck players!
Who Gloria? She was 84 years old, she had to take the lump sum lol
Is that any relation to Glenn Tipton, guitarist of Judas Priest?
"By early Saturday afternoon, officials with the lottery calculated that tickets were selling, on average, at a pace of more than $7,700 a second, or almost $28 million an hour."
Cut and Paste from NY Times article today
Good luck Mr. Travelin'Trucker,
I know what it's like to have to drive that big 18 wheeler. I hated it. I'd rather be rich too.
Bought myself a few more lines from machine ($10) all QP
So I am playing overall one line of my #'s and six QP... As for tax discussion at end of day you will still be filthy rich if you win so just hire some good advisors and keep you head on straight after win and you should be more then set for life
All I would want is a home (800k-1M) and to take care of my family (Parents/Brother/Sister + Her Husband) and a few select extended family and then I would be happy man
It would be great to never have to worry about $ again
Good luck to everyone! im still holding out for 1 or more winners from LP.
Wondering if I should grab another ticket or 2? I have 5
Hilarious! I Liked your NeNe Leakes post too!
So the ULTIMATE QUESTION HERE IS...
IF I BUY A $2 TICKET... .... ........
WILL I WIN?
Curious if you match 5 numbers and win 1M ,, Is that the actual value of prize or is the actual cash value lower like in scratch off game (Say for instance 670k) and then after taxes you end up with well under half mil?
Or is that 1M the actual prize and after taxes you end up with 650k or so?
I think it's a great idea!
Good luck to all the players,my husband ask me if I played..I said no in TENN. he said good girl...I hope there is multy winners.
Who said she had any left?
If you win $1 million, you will get maybe 380k after taxes as a lump sum. Maybe around 600k or something if you take the annuity.
Billion dollar jackpot come draw time.
Let's make a LP LP. (Lottery Post Lottery Pool)
That way we'll all win if someone wins...
That seems to be the big question.
Especially with the 900 mil.
I don't believe some of the opinions coming this way.
But, you could for instance look at California's payouts on a typical win, and judge from that? maybe?
I agree with this motion. The LPLP.
Anyone else?
(there are so many little things I want to get. Like a Jeep, for one)
It would bust your bubble if she won again
I agree!
You said:
"If you take lump sum, you get a one-time cash payment of what the lottery would have invested on your behalf to generate the annuitized value over 29 years."
I'm confused because:
1) I thought that if the winner took the one-time lump sum payment, they got what was in the JP from players that bought tickets, which is what builds the JP.
2) I thought the annuity payments included the estimated JP, which of course includes the interest earned over 29 years AND the ticket sales.
What I'm asking is this:
Why would the one-time lump-sum payment consist of the interest from the annuity payments, instead of the amount collected from the actual ticket sales?
What you said above just doesn't make sense to me. (I'm not saying you are wrong) I'm just confused, as I thought I understood the JP payout(s) as I just explained.
Thanks and Good Luck tonight!
actual amount
I don't care what I owe in taxes!!!?? It would be more than what I started my day with!
Yes, I agree. But everyone must pay taxes.
Don't neglect your taxes. Take care of your tax
situation asap.
Leave nothing out there, that could cause a snag.
Joe, you're thinking of it backwards. The cash value isn't determined by the annuity value. The annuity value is determined by the cash value.
If they bump it I'm buying 2 more tickets, 1 cash option, 1 annuity just so I can have a ticket that says $1,000,000,000.
Good luck to all tonight!
I think she won Powerball not Mega Millions
Thank You
So if you mach 5 after taxes you still come out with decent chunk (650k or so)
Obviously not enough to quit working/etc but more then enough to buy a small home and get some financial stability short term
Depends on state tax what you'd get for five #'s; however that is a good ballpark figure. I'd pay the house off and quit my job since I get an Army pension anyway for incidentals. Good luck
Ok I got my tickets, I have my plans together for the next few days. I know how much my parents and siblings get. I'm ready!
"If birthday numbers are drawn I wouldn't be shocked to see up to 25 jackpot winners." That's why it's best not to play birthdays are anniversaries numbers, you will be sharing the jackpot if others win. Better to get Q-Picks.
If you powerplay... You could win 2 million in that scenario...
I gave in a bought some more tickets today.
I wonder if Bill Gates or Warren Buffet thinks this billion is "chump-change." Anyone want to change their name to "Chump"?
I spent $12 on the Powerball tickets. I just want to pay off my debts and those of my loved ones (student loans, medical bills, credit cards) just to be free from debt. If I could be lucky to be the sole winner, who knows, it might happen.Spending the money on expensive items will not be a priority of mine .Thinking on how to invest the money properly and being able to go back to school to further my education and becoming comfortably self-employed/employer would be a dream of mine.
To everyone who has a negative connotation about taxes, I sympathise with you and, understand your complaints but, think about it, this is a TITANIC lottery jackpot ,while many do not necessarily agree about the taxes being taken off of the lump sum, the take home amount does outweigh the investment, provided it is an investment that you are comfortable to part with. Good Luck to all and who knows, we might get to the desired $1 billion mark before tonight's draw.
You are joining the lottery pool right?
The winner will not be a billionaire unless the pot is a least 1.7 billion ..
And you got jokes Ha Ha. Even with his mistake, Steves got more money than you would ever dream of, and is invited back to host it next year.
Get over yourself & focus on getting the powerball numbers right or clock in on Monday morning like the rest of us. Now at that.
Glad I don't live in ILL & win. Wow I'll hate to win an later get a IOU LMAO.
If you don't buy any tickets, you are 100% guaranteed not to win anything!
Got to be in it to win it!
I don't care if half go to taxes. I only paid $2.00. "I didn't wake up this morning a millionary did you?" I'll take 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 right now. Even 500,000 would suit me fine lol. I'm not greedy lol.
"What you said" Can't win if you don't play.
It's a $1 million cash prize for 5 numbers without the Powerball number.
Then you have to pay taxes on the $1 million, so you end up with anywhere from 60.4% to roughly 51% of the $1 mil after taxes depending on the state you live in.
If I won the jackpot, I'd keep 10 milllion and donate the other 890 (minus taxes) to random people.
So True
Hi Nice to meet you. My name is Random.
Whoever won mega last night, flying under the radar....lol
was thinking the same thing!
There is no annuity offered for prize levels 2-9 only for the jackpot.
If you win second prize of $1 million for matching the 5 numbers without the powerball, you get $1 million in cash before taxes are taken out.
Right I was thinking it would be like winning a million on a scratch off.
Wow, $900 million in Powerball lottery jackpot. I purchased one ticket for tonight's game. I think I'll purchase one more ticket before tonight's drawing, that will give me two Powerball tickets. I know it's a long-shot, but you never know. I'd like to see this Powerball lottery turn over one more time, just to see it go over a billion dollars. If it does turn-over, I can only imagine what the jackpot will be on Wednesdays game! Just a little over five hours to go before the drawing. I think my heart will drop a beat or two if this Powerball game turns over again.
Nodda4me you got a good heart. But instead of donating it to random people. Woudn't it l be better to donate it to the ones that really need it. You Think. Good choice tho my friend. God Bless you for your comment.
Got my 4 lines used some old numbers from mid 2000's all of them from the 9th lol
I hit $30 on the Maga last night, so I bought 15 more PB's. Good Luck to all that are in!
WHO CARES it's more than I got in my pocket or bank account right now. Not a bad investment with paying only $2.00. RIGHT. I know it a long short with such a small investment, but theirs only one ticket gone win it all. IT MIGHT ALL WELL BE ME.
After being down for the past 12 hours the lotter is back online, but accepting orders only for Wednesday's Powerball jackpot. LOL
Are you in?
I wonder if Bill Gates is getting in on this one?? I mean hey...
bill gates, oprah, donald trump and the kardashians
"Taxman"
The IRS would destroy you.
I am not a CPA but if one takes the lump sum I believe one would have to win roughly 3 billion to walk away with about a $1 billion after tax cash value prize. Whether such a scenario is likely under the currently matrix is an entirely different matter.
No doubt! I wonder if that person bought / is going to be in it for tonight? Imagine if he / she won the JP tonight as well...
If I had already won I would definitely try for a second time.
Maybe they know something we don't, as in no one hits tonight. While seemingly slim, rollover could happen. It will be pure pandemonium. Lottery advertising departments will be working overtime to rework signage to show Billion instead of Million.
It was won in New York at
It was a quick pick ticket
My guess is they are swamped and can't fulfill all orders in time.
WOW! If Illinois didn't pay-out, that would be headline news around the world. They would never be able to live that down.
Are you saying that it will be a long night here in the States?
Greetings RomanCandle .....
Elementary !
Let's imagine that the final cash option jackpot is $620 million. When you break that down in scenarios involving 10 to 20 separate winning tickets, the results are as follows ....
10 winning tickets -- $ 62.00 million per
11 winning tickets -- $ 56.36+ million per
12 winning tickets -- $ 51.66+ million per
13 winning tickets -- $ 47.69+ million per
14 winning tickets -- $ 44.28+ million per
15 winning tickets -- $ 41.33+ million per
16 winning tickets -- $ 38.75 million per
17 winning tickets -- $ 36.47+ million per
18 winning tickets -- $ 34.44+ million per
19 winning tickets -- $ 32.63+ million per
20 winning tickets -- $ 31.00 million per
Thanx-A-Lot and Best of Luck to one and all
Frank0sport16
Hmmm thinking they aren't going to raise it anymore... Would have thought if they did it would have happened by now... Only 900... Bummer
This Just In:
We've all been going around the past couple of weeks or so, with our heads in the clouds, lost in the sauce.
OK, but what is this, when you get right down to it?
Opinions of this and that. Different opinions and beliefs of what the winner will actually get paid, etc.
Honestly, and respectfully, I think it's a Government ploy, not over the 1 billion jackpot, but over the fact that millions and millions of people are getting hyped up over this thing, and in fact funding the whole jackpot, like we always do but there's a new angle:
See, the government is going to win no matter what we say or how much we bet. They are going to further capitalize on our GREED, like always. But just the thought of "Billion" has enticed many millions more, many of them new, and younger players. The betting today is like it was in recent years, exponentially-self-accelerating the accumulation of the gov's profits.
This is the government's money printing machine. The Lotto.
As if you don't pay enough taxes?
Somehow to recoup a significant portion of that 15 trillion dollars "we" owe. People will not stop betting on Lotto, until they're broke. "We the people" are funding this enormous jackpot, for which we'll see very little in return for all the hype. We used to play this game hoping for some "fair" chance at winning.
Good luck anyway.
Thanks Frank... I get that much.
was wondering how you arrived at the notion that 10-20 folks may win tonight.
I have been thinking along those lines for a while. The signs for the Powerball lottery are geared towards millions, not billions. LOL
Good evening everyone!
Do you think there will be at least one winner tonight or, will there be yet another rollover?!
Will tonight's (or Wed night in the event there's a rollover)Winner(s) be able to remain anonymous even if they collect via trust?
How long after the drawing until it is known whether there was a winner, how much did they actually win? And, if there was no winner, how much will the starting jackpot be for Wednesday night's draw?
I guess that it is going to be a long night for Lottery Officials. We are all just going to have to sit back and wait for Todd to give us the latest news.
It's like we are having one big sleepover at Todd's Place!
Good Luck Everyone!
My point exactly. The signage won't allow it to say $1 billion and honestly believe that is why they haven't raised the ante. They could at least go to 999 million, that would fit on the sign just fine.
Screw the IRS. I'll buy them out and bankrupt the entire system. Illegal <snip>s.
Greetings Once More Roman Candle ...
Merely Wishful Thinking -- as well as the fact that I believe in a certain type of democracy.
Thanx-A-Lot and Best of Luck to All, Frank0Sport16
Winning number in my hand
I am very much against taxing lottery winnings. However, I'm not going to shed a tear for giving the IRS what they claim is theirs. I'll just be cussing under my breath for a long time. I'll still have millions of dollars to my name to live a very happy rich satisfying life.
HOW ABOUT THEM.................birthday numbers.
LOL
noooooooooooooooo - lol
I think one of two things will happen in the drawing tonight
half very low/half very high or all numbers above 20
Winning this kind of lottery can actually ruin a person, their lives, their families lives, their friends lives and their neighbors lives. I hope that this person is smart enough to remain anonymous and sells the ticket to a conglomerate and just pay the winner a flat fee and they can stay anonymous forever. Otherwise they are ruined for life with that kind of money.
Prediction: 4 winners tonight. One from NY, CA, GA and MI.
3 winners
1 Florida
1 New Jersey
1 California
I don't understand why they are dragging their feet in jacking up the JP to $1B one billy. Afterall this is once in a blue moon event. I know they talk about projections. Just screw the projections because it might be years before we ever see this kind of jackpot again, barring a substantial increase in the numbers in the matrix.
Why do you say that? Give it away in $14,000 (or less) chunks and the giver is in the clear.
They can "ruin" my life anytime. Where do I sign up to have my life "ruined" by a massive Powerball jackpot?
They can't change the signs! They're freaking out!!!
Hey Max, I was gonna say FL. You may be right. Did you get a ticket from GER?
The Government always wins.That's the price you pay for Democracy. Why people don't get hyped when it's 100 mill confuses me. If you expect to win anything your crazy but you have to try.
I think there will be two winners. NH and RI
Been OCD about this all day, it could at least go to $999 million and fits on all their signage/billboards.
LOL holy crap right.....they can't change the signs...only 3 spaces!!!!!!!!!! LOL......
Greetings ....
How about the ultimate Black Jack result - 21 separate winning tickets?
3 in Georgia; 2 each in Louisiana, Texas, Ohio, Maine and Colorado; 1 each in California, Washington state, South Carolina, Washington DC, Florida, Kentucky, New York and Iowa.
Thanx-A-Lot and Best of Luck to All, Frank0Sport16
As said by another poster, luck has nothing to do with winning. It's all karma, which is alot more complex than anyone of us can understand.
That said, I bought 2 tickets - it's about time someone from WA won PB :)
Hey thanks for that link to Europe's The Final Countdown. I've seen that on the Geico commercial like a 900 million times it seems but never caught the entire song before.
NOT EXACTLY!!!. That MM jackpot was won in New York. They are very anal about sticking your face on TV regardless. They just love that free unnecessary publicity.
Meanwhile the median yearly household income in the US is $51,939 ($24,062 for individual income).
Multiply this number by 40 for lifetime earnings and you get just above 2 million (for a household)
Considering that, 500 million cash option is 250 times the median lifetime household income in the US.
Chances are high that a person with or below median yearly wages will win.
It is simply too much money even if it is split among a few winners.
My problem with what is currently happening is that greed has taken over.
Mega million will change their format so they can top powerball's record and i believe we will one day see jackpots over a billion.
The crazy thing is that the odds are impossible and are going to get worse and the price of tickets is going to go up.
That is not a good thing for lottery players in general...i think it will reduce the number of jackpot winners, but those lucky few that do win it will get more money.
1 winner tonight - me haha
My guess is, though I am sure the lottery would like nothing better than to post an advertised one billion dollar jackpot, they also know doing so, then being required to recant the projection at draw time because last minute sales projections didn't materialize, would have a serious negative impact on the game as a whole. I can just imagine it now; "Yeah, its a billion dollar jackpot again, but they will drop it back down at draw time".
Albeit, with the current frenzy, who knows, it may still make it there yet tonight.
I wonder what the drop off has been with regard to betting on other lotto's across US
For instance I play regular Illinois lotto weekly (3 lines each draw at cost of $9 weekly) and this week no one has been buying regular lotto tickets at least as I can tell compared to usual
Illinois lotto has been rolling over for a while now and is up to 19.75M
I would gladly win that prize and be happy for life but it seems alot of others are putting there regular lotto $$$ towards PB this week. I have become too accustomed to playing Illinois lotto to skip out on playing it
Seems better to put a little towards PB while keeping your Illinois Lotto playing going. But this week it seems people would prefer to opt out of Illinois lotto and just put all there $$$ into PB drawing
LOL, they never anticipated this to happen...
Chris Shaw the previous powerball winner looks like he's happy. He got married since his win to his girlfriend at the time. Looks like they have a nice home for themselves.
http://i.imgur.com/uGLs1Ci.jpg
Because what ever estimated jackpot they put up they have to pay. If sells are lower money still comes out their pocket to make up the difference if their projections were off.
The current $900 million estimate is overly optimistic, though within the realm of possibility. To put it another way, when MUSL previously raised the estimate, that didn't mean the jackpot was at $800 million yet, but rather they believe the final tally will be much higher and hence the jump from 800 to 900.
Furthermore, if the actual annuity jackpot is less than $900 million, many may not notice nor care. However, if MUSL estimates the jackpot at $1 billion and the actual is less, many will notice; much bad publicity.
I'm doing my part to get it to a billion. I bought another ticket this evening (with Powerplay, since 2nd tier win is 25X more likely) awhile ago from Wawa - never seen such a long line at the self-service terminal.
I can't even imagine what Wednesday will be like, if no one wins tonight. If that happens, participating lotteries should set up additional temporary terminals at busy locations, because one machine (typical) won't be enough. In some instances, an additional terminal is already present, but not utilized for sales, such as at PA self-service locations.
Interesting that the boys look more like him and the girls look more like their mother - lol
Glad to have seen someone like him win. Down to earth, every day kinda guy and early enough in his life to really enjoy it.
Umm... She won the Powerball split with Texas & Puerto Rico....
If any of you guys won pb tonight, would you take the lump sum or the annuity? I vote annuity.
Two winners... one in Ohio, one in South Carolina; both states where one can claim the jackpot anonymously.
I vote annuity too.
Even though I'll likely be dead by the time the 30th payment makes it to me.
I figure the 'several' million I'll make a year, in the mean time, will be more than enough for me. But, it's how I'll split it up when I'm gone, and keeping it away from governments and so on, that would be a challenge.
Yeah good timing to win as nobody cares who won the MM.
Lump sum
I do not know what future holds economically especially on tax front
If I take lump sum I can make some investments , live , save and map out future for me and my loved one's knowing everything is set going forward
I do understand value some would put in annuity as it would be nice to know that for next 30 years you have $$$ coming to you in case something goes drastically wrong
But I cant see a scenario in which someone blows what is nearly 400M and ends up broke
It Can Happen! Mike Tyson Blew through 300 million of his earnings as a fighter. You would have to work pretty darn hard to do it though. One thing for sure the Federal government wins no matter what... At least 500 million in taxes.
The current income tax rate of 39.6% is historically on the low side. Are you comfortable with changes in the political arena leaving it where it is, especially 25 years out? If it is increased to 45%, or even 70% how would you feel with the annuity? Here is a history chart of income tax.
http://bradfordtaxinstitute.com/Free_Resources/Federal-Income-Tax-Rates.aspx
Yes, that's correct. $14,000 per year and no one has to pay the gift tax.
And if ur married 28k
Hummm.....my spider-senses tells me there will be one winner in California and she'll have to go into the Witness Protection Program.
I'm going with 3 states... NY CA & FL
CA 1 winner
FL 1 winner
NY multiple winners from a pool
I will not be surprised if it's won by a pool. I have heard of some pools buying thousands of tickets. This time on Sunday will be something to behold.
They say you shouldn't speak ill of the dead but I still believe that if David Edwards was alive that he could run through this $400M that you mention.
Remember he bought a private jet(the upkeep on a private jet is very expensive), a fiber optics company which he let someone else run and that someone gave themselves a massive raise and that company failed, his mansion in Palm Beach, FL which he couldn't pay the maintenance fees on so he got foreclosed on eventually, a home in CA and let us not forget he had so many cars that his fellow rich neighbors in his Private Gated community were complaining that it looked like a used car lot at his home. Also he and his wife were into doing drugs big time so that didn't help the situation in fact that became their ultimate downfall. He also bought a lot of fake collectors items and paid handsomely for them.
Had David Edwards had $400M he would have probably got a bigger home, a bigger jet (again very expensive to maintain), a yacht (again another very expensive purchase and maintenance), probably bought multiple businesses, bought lots more fake collectible items, bought even more cars. And let us not forget that he gave his friends so much money they all went out and bought and did drugs to the point where he was paying to bury them when they had overdosed. I'm pretty confident that David had the capability to do it as stated by his Investment Manager Mr. Gibson, "David would point and laugh at me telling his friends, Look he's losing his mind watching me spend my money."
The reality is that you can burn through pretty much any amount of money if you decide to no only keep up with the Jones' but you attempt to blow the Jones' out of the water. The solution is simple, you live within your means but hey what crazy people would ever do something as sensible as that? LOL
Winners, how are you spending your last two hours as part of the 99%?
Bengals and Steelers game! With the laptop on the lottery post page.
Hi Nodda, my real name is Random People!! You're donation of $890M is so kind!
Tonight would be perfect time for 1-2-3-4-5 to be drawn.
Oh boy that would drive a few folks bonkers
Kansas web site has the Powerball pending at 8:22 p m CST time
Thinking the same thing. Played 3 numbers in a row for this draw.
I don't give a crap, bring em I got my best suit on waiting. Ain't no one scaring me away from nothing.
One winner Georgia .
Kansas web site has the Powerball pending at 8:22 p m CST time
Imagine being one of those winners who matches all 5 and missed the PB. Talk about a DRASTIC different between ONE ball. I would be happy with the $2 million but would always think about just missing the world's largest jackpot by one number. Kinda happened to me recently on the cash 5 when I matched 4 out of 5 and missed the last number getting $220 instead of $1.6 million. But this jackpot would win make up for it lol.
Virginia
idaho
New York
New Mexico
Ohio
Rofl!!! Having a beer at my local pub! Cheers!! :-)
Well that's patently untrue. They don't pay the shortfall difference. They pay what the take actually turns out to be, not what the 'estimated' advertised amount is. Usually, the advertised amount is less than the actual amount so winners end up getting more money than advertised, but on the occasions the advertised amount turned out to be more than what they actually took in, the winner got less money.
The reason they haven't bumped the jackpot yet is that if they are too far off in their projections and the actual jackpot is less than advertised, it's going to be bad PR. Bad worldwide PR. At this level, when the whole world is watching, they need to either be spot on or have the final jackpot be more than estimated.
Lol. I'm seriously thinking of buying combo 1 2 3 4 5 6
or 2 4 6 8 10 12. Just to be a pisser. Lol.
This is in addition to the "real combos" I already bought. Rofl.
Tonight should go down in history as "powerball night" rofl!!!
Odds of missing the 5th number on a 5/43 Cash 5 game is around 189 out of 190. Odds of missing the Powerball is 25 out 26. So while both seem close, missing the Powerball will be much closer, and that respect, more upsetting to most who only match 5.
I say "most", because personally, I'd be ok winning $2 million, and would actually be relieved not hitting the record jackpot. My main reason for even playing is to part of history and hoping to win more than my $9 back (3 tickets with PP).
Well, sales are closing shortly in many Powerball jurisdictions. A few hours and, hopefully, we'll know whether anyone won or if it rolls again to over a billion.
Amen brother! She's sitting in her local pub right about now! :-) lol.