$2 and a dream baby! I'm glad I got my tickets already, the lines at the store on Saturday are going to be looonnnng.

Yep- this is all Californians doing,  to think otherwise is foolishness. Three Cheers for California.

I say 650 on sat. They are saying it passed 600 already.

I say $700 mil RedStang by spinning time.

ya'll excited for the 190M mega millions tonight? lol

How about $657 million just to beat the all time annuity record?

That would mean about 150 mill tickets sold. Pretty wild.

I just purchased my one ticket,  good luck everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

People that dont normally play the lottery will be coming out the woodworks to play in worlds biggest lottery jackpot. I wouldnt be surprised if it reaches a little more than $700 million. And if by an act of god no one wins, expect a jackpot of at least 1.5 billions.

I want it all. All for me!!!

Definitely excited for both games! First time in history both jackpots combined have been close to $800M :)

I agree, I think it'll be at $700M or close to it by tomorrow night. I think people will be borrowing money and clearing out their checking accounts to buy as many tickets as they can. Seems it's jumping ~$100M per day, so why not $700 tomorrow night, unless everyone is broke by tomorrow. Which is possible at this rate of ticket sales. 

I don't know what will happen if it rolls over. People will lose their minds.

old record Powerball: $384.7 million cash   vs current Powerball: $376.9 million cash

ya i think we beat  cash wise by draw time of old PB record

we did start higher then that old jackpot ,and have ca now, so i knew we  have new PB record

but nonething going to touch the $471 million cash MM record

 if 1 ticket wins, am going to rofl at media witch hunt, as they all camp out for lottery to show up

they better know how to hide via  trust or something,

also  1 billion plus jackpot easy if it rolls"small chance with these sells"

lotteries are loving this , making them a killing

about time todd lol

Oopsie Daisy

Ima gonna win about $230 million in the bank after 39% in Federal Taxes. Woo Hoo, no State or Local Taxes here in PA on Lottery winnings!

Good luck LP friends!

Woo Hoo

That was uncalled for don't you think  Todd works really hard on this site and USA Mega  cut him some slack.

Actually I am!!  I would be very happy to win the mega millions!!

Heck Yeah, shoot I'll take $1 million even $250,000

no i was just saying good job todd lol i have been here longer

Alright my turn.

So far I have 14 tickets for which I only paid $3.00. Think work pool.

I am thinking of buying 2 for myself with powerplay and wait for the draw.

Good luck people.

I hope you have the winning ticket for tonight's mega millions and I hope I have the winning ticket for tomorrow night's powerball. That would be sweet.

Oh Lord, Have Mercy....!

The PB annuity value will have to exceed $750 million if it wants to break the cash value that MM has at $471 million.

Lottery insanity rules.

singlewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinner

Bought some tickets today and had an interesting thing... Here in Texas you have to choose whether you want cash or annuity at purchase. Cash always for me. Anyway, this is what tickets look like normally:

Just before that, at a different location, my ticket printed like this:

It is nice that us folks here in Florida can now participate in the MM without having to drive to Georgia.

okay...hear that everyone? Buy more Powerball tickets now!

Just kidding, buy as many tickets as you are comfortable with. no more no less.

    This is unbelievable .....just found out it's up to $600 million , what a surprise .

     I checked my state and I'm ready to win over $260 million dollars .......

Wish I could play, hope you all win.

We also have to make the choice at purchase,

easy decision, cash, always.

I would take cash at purchase also.

hmm....  as i read the article i note:

"In the meantime, lottery players dreaming about what $640 million means to them after taxes have been withheld can check USA Mega'sJackpot Analysis page, which provides the information for each individual state."

640... and Todd... you trying to tell us something here? 

GO POWERBALL!!!

Is it $640 mil ?

This is by far the largest Powerball Jackpot in their history. The world record jackpot was Mega Millions at $656 million shared by 3 winning tickets.

 Good luck MzD!

The first drawing sequence that Powerball has in California and the jackpot grows from what, 50 million to 600 million? How convenient. How timely. 

/rolleyes

The Federal tax obligation alone is almost $150 million! some folks out there will still think that is not enough of their fair share.

Our beloved Government will burn through that amount in 20 minutes.

Jesus first called them hypocrites, and then asked one of them to produce a Roman coin that would be suitable for paying Caesar's tax. One of them showed him a Roman coin, and he asked them whose name and inscription were on it. They answered, "Caesar's," and he responded:"Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's".

Closer to 2 minutes I'd say.

As Ridge would say that's mighty kindly of you whiteballz

Hi Todd-

You do an outstanding job running this site.  Especially in times like these.  So, I dont want anyone to go over the stupid mountain, and think Im criticizing you.  But there is a typo in the article.  See quote below:"In the meantime, lottery players dreaming about what $640 million means to them after taxes have been withheld can check USA Mega's  Jackpot Analysis page, which provides the information for each individual state.

Keep up the great work.

Lol! with the current Federal budget at close to 4 trillion. Our Government spends about $450 million per hour

Cause I earned that $376.9 million dammit!

How do you know the number of tickets?  I've been wondering what percentage of sales goes back into the pot.

http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/econ/lottery-payouts-and-state-revenue.aspx

Sales are available at

http://<snip>/powerballsales.htm

Now what the chances the Powerball will roll again now?

At least below 20%

Love that people can put little sayings under their posts. You can really see who the mentally ill on here are. 

Ok still a chance it can roll.

How many days old tickets win? It's always the ticket the person bought on game day. It's extremely hard to win the lottery, but most winners are sold on the day of the drawing.

That's because most people rush to buy tickets on the last day, so most tickets are sold on the last day.

It was a typo.  I'm glad you found it, but probably best just to send me a quick note.

Please just send me a note if you find a typo - thanks.

Spot on. Many of the lotto retailers down here near I-45 and the major streets in the Houston area get absolutely packed with customers the evening of the draw.

Got my tickets

Trolling again, Venom? Not getting enough attention?

Take a deep breath and play responsibly!

Definitely getting mine tonight. :) I've seen the lotto machines go down due to network issues before a big jackpot.

Everyone who wins the lotto seemingly has this amazing story. The public bus broke down in front of a corner store and they went in to get a bottled water, and the change they had left was exactly enough to buy a ticket for the lotto they wouldn't have otherwise played if the bus hadn't broke down. It was also their first time playing, and someone cut in front of them in line and got a ticket, so if that didn't happen they wouldn't have won. 

Stuff like that.

I was thinking, well, maybe that's the kind of story I'll tell them when I win, but I never win to even get the chance. I'm starting to think I have to actually live that story for me to win, roleplay style. I'm going to concoct some ridiculous story and roleplay it right into a corner store where I'll get the winning ticket.

No role playing for me.  I'm claiming anonymously. 

bummer... I thought you were giving us a hint... :)

I can't understand cleaning out a savings account to buy that many tickets.  I have 4 that's plenty for me.

Sorry, I ment to include a "LOL"

on my reply to you.

$650 million PowerBall jackpot! I'm ready for it. Bring it on!

OK all I have to do is to win Powerball and Mega = $790 mil. I will start working on my magic numbers :D

I got mine too. 

Guy in line two places ahead of me: $200 on Powerball, $100 on Mega. 

Heard on the news that if no one wins tomorrow, it'll go up at least to 935 million dollars.

I think given the rapid sales, it is likely that all possible number combinations will have been sold thus guaranteering that it will hit tomorrow.

Of course I would love to hit the jackpot, but if I don't then i would love to see the worlds first billion dollar jackpot.

i needed to catch a bus, so asked for 1 ticket, the clerk thought i meant lotto,  said i have to buy it now as they cant be cancelled, and what do you know! I won. I NEVER buy lotto, it breeds indolence.

I have the golden ticket in my shoebox...

Congrats goose! Was it the jackpot?

You're my girl!

Sho you right!

It's gonna be really difficult to get some sleep tonight...

I wish there was a way to find out the combos that have not been played yet so that I can play some of them

            Cash .............in my state is says .......payout $263,815,000     Does that mean how much 

            a person will recieve ?  Do they give you a small check when you turn in your ticket ?

            How long does it take ? What is the procedure ?  thank you       

Hi brees. I don't know what state you're in so I'll tell you the best way to figure it out. 

The money you receive from a jackpot payment, isn't entirely yours. They take 25% of federal taxes right away, but what you'll really owe is a total of 39.6%, so it's best to calculate what that extra 14.6% is, subtract that amount, put it aside as you'll owe it later. If you're in a state that doesn't tax you, then the 39.6% is all the taxes you'll owe on the jackpot. 

Once they've verified your information, they'll deposit the funds in an account you provide or forward you a physical check (do they still send physical JP checks?) that takes about 3 weeks or so to hit your account. 

If you need money to tide you over until then, you can get a loan against the jp, either before or after you come forward. It's best to get the loan ahead of time, IMO.

"why not $700 tomorrow night"

The increase in what they advertise doesn't mean they've actually sold those tickets already. It only means the sales so far have let them make a more accurate estimate. I'm guessing they also deliberately lowball it a bit when it gets to this level, so they can generate even more hype when they do bump up the total.

Figuring they knew the original estmate was low, we've seen an increase of $75 million followed by an increase of $50 million. I'd bet on an increase to $625 by early afternoon, followed by a modest adjustment at drawing time.

It's virtually impossible to sell all of the possible combinations. Once they've sold 90% there's only 1 unused combination for every 10 tickets sold. At the very end, when there's only 1 unused combination left there's only a 1 in 175 million chance it wil turn up each time another ticket is sold. That means that we should expect that finally using that single combination would require selling 175 million tickets.

Assuming the final tally is about $650 milion they will have sold about 300 million tickets. That will use about 75% of the combinations, and a 25% chance of another roll.

Every time there is a Hugh JP the media interviews Richard Lustig and he gives the same old advice. I don't think he ever won a huge MM or PB jackpot,  but hell he's lucky than most. My mother bought a ticket yesterday, but I'm going to buy one today. If we win I will definitely have a Joker smile for life.

Have you noticed just how little media attention is with the 600 million dollars jackpot? The attention is a far cry from 656 million MM jackpot last year.
Moreover, there was no line when I bought a ticket in my location today.

I have a feeling that once a record jackpot was reached, it would take another record to get media attention. If the jackpot rolls over and reaches 1 billion dollars, then the media would be all over it.

That guy is nothing but a modern day snake oil salesman. System my a(s)s. If his system was all that effective he'd have won more than $1M by now and disclose how much he spends on tickets. His number of wins isn't that impressive to me without knowing the stats. Fine, he won 7 times, how much did he spend to get that? Especially since so many of the wins are $25k. And why hasn't he won any more since. He's been at 7 wins for years now. 

What he's really selling is his book, not useful information. His book is where he's making the money. Someone may sue him soon because I have yet to read of any winner thanking him for helping them win.

One of the most stupid advice he gave was that you have more chance to win if you pick your own numbers instead of Quick Pick. Every possible combination has equal chance of winning, regardless how you pick it.

I have a feeling that now that the MM JP got claimed, more people will be focused on PB tomorrow. But you're right, seems there was more media interest for last year's $587 PB than there is now. 

That'll be good for anyone who wins tomorrow.

You kidding? It was on CNBC every hour during the day and ABC national news for sure when I was watching. Then I know based on Google News it's a headline, in addition to each of the local news stations youtube segments posted under that headline.

Last year, the lottery jackpots were the leading stories on AOL, MSN and Yahoo. Last night I had to go looking for it. It wasn't even one of the top trending stories on Yahoo much less a news story. They started showing more interest today, but Beyonce's possible pregnancy, Maria Carey's lip synching, and Kim Kardashian's swollen feet were apparently much more important. It seems really odd compared to how it was last year

Those are the ones that makes the jackpot rolling.  Gotta thank them when you win.

as jackpots of this size happens more and more, the frenzy dies down. When we see 3 bil, 5 bil jackpots, most people won't bat an eye on the little 600m

jackpots anymore.

"When we see 3 bil, 5 bil jackpots, most people won't bat an eye on the little 600m jackpots anymore."

I don't see 3 or 5 billion dollar jackpots with tickets at $2 each and this current 5/59 + 1/35 matrix.

Congrats to the MegaMillions winners, go collect quick, no ones looking lol

true dat.

Maybe not. But I don't think people would be much more excited if MM reached 1 billion rather than powerball.

So if a game was changed to say $3 and 7/59 or something, people would still be excited about a billion jackpot for the first few times, until it becomes 

common. Even if the games don't change, and 600M jackpots happen more often, while reaching 1 bil occasionally, people will stop caring about 600M 

jackpots. It'll become kind of like 275M jackpots these days. At that point, since not so many people will buy tickets for that one draw, it's more likely

to roll over.

I don’t know if we’ll see $700 million tonight but I think PB will break the current annuity record set by mega millions at $656 million.

Yes, I don't see it not surpassing $656M, especially with the MM gone. Such a pity their cash option is so much less than MM. We might have had 2 records broken.

It would be great to have both the annuity and lump sum record broken tonight. I'm going to get a few more tickets today to help the cause.

 Teddi ..............Thank you ..........

     1.   I read in the past ....."Certain States wins more WHY ? EXAMPLE , Va , SC , NJ , NY , PA , Calif ???

     2.   Just wondering why ? MM  2 person's  won on the East Coast ......

     3.   Read to These Games are Rigged true / false ?  ........

Now that the Mega Millions has been won, and is no longer competing for $$$ with the POWERBALL, we are gonna watch the powerball jackpot EXPLODE LIKE NEVER BEFORE. You better go get your ticket now, and sweet dreams!!!.

Wow New Jersey hits the Mega Millions again! I didn't get any numbers on that however I get another chance at Powerball tonight. This the 3rd jackpot hit for NJ this year!

Go Jersey!

     Here is something you might want to know  .......If you play on sharing your winnings with family , you'll owe 35% federal gift tax,

     if you give more than $14,000  to anyone indivdual in a year .  ( In 22 states and Washington D.C. you'll need to write another check,

     for state gift tax .   "Powerball Winners Will Keep Uncle Sam Smiling " .......

New Jersey is on a roll

That's why you would claim it as a trust and add them to it for the percentage you want to give them of your winnings.

 Them New Jersey people know something

Thank you. I will go get some extra ones today.

You're awesome, Ronnie. I'll be sure to thank you in my press conference 

Be vevy vevy quiet ............ I'm hunting Powerballs ..................

  I have a strong feeling that Houston, Texas has this one or, a portion of it. Something about the demographics of highly skilled and paid professionals migrating there and money coming with them.

  Alas, GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! And oh, the game might increase to $650 Million with string sales, who knows?

singlewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinner

 Good Luck Piaceri. However, with so many tickets STILL being sold. I doubt you might be a single winner. But, you might be ONE of the winners.

   Good Luck to you, nonetheless

LOL thanks sandia. Maybe we will see 2 winners from the SE Texas/Houston area on 2 tickets! Good luck to you, too! 

I just think it would be hysterically entertaining if only 1 ticket won with a single winner.  I mean, if you don't win it yourself, at least the entertainment factor of people going koo-koo over a single winner will be worth it all. 

singlewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinner

 Thank you Piaceri, you are so sweet.

    Now, if only 1 ticket won the entire loot. Oh wow, I will find it too hilarious. The poor media frenzy would be astronomical. He he he. Hey, if by some miracle, either one of us are the sole winners.....DISAPPEAR, pack your bags and loved ones and make yourself scarce. Charter the first thing smoking outta town. Send the media on a wild goose chase. Hmmm, more funny would be if either or both of us would win, my fiance suggests buying a billboard sign, with a smiling face of whomever pissed us off say, a boss from hell with it reading "I AM THE BIG POWERBALL WINNER". Hey, media goes crazy, boss from hell will try to run as fast as his sneakers can aid him/her from the attention and crooks....It is only fair...

  Mmmmkay, evil thoughts there.

What is the chances of it being one winner?

If no one wins tonight, the Powerball Jackpot will be $925 million. Ultimately, that could mean a $1.2 billion jackpot by the time of the drawing. Based on current calculations, the cash value would be projected at $581.1 million and would reach $753.8 million (on $1.2 billion). In California and other states where there are no state taxes on lottery winnings, you could conceivably walk away with as much as $455, 295, 200 or as Jay-Z says, almost "half a billy."

 With sales reaching such high pinnacles, I very much doubt that there would be a rollover. But, who knows, right?

 Highly unlikely but not ENTIRELY impossible.

I wish they would go ahead and get today's bump out there. I'm sitting here waiting for it so I can celebrate by walking to Walmart and buying a hook for inside my pantry. Oh, and to pick up another ticket or two at the Murphy station there.

singlewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinner

It's like a less than percent 10 chance of it rolling and it been only winner. There is still slim possible we will see a billion dollar jackpot.

It's not highly unlikley at all. I'd say rollover + single winner = around 50% chance. Maybe a little higher.

Source? Or random number?

Both, somebody on 550 million dollar post told me it was a 20 or 30 percent chance of it rolling.

I think its around 20% chance rolling and 30% chance for 1 winner.

Although my numbers are also kind of guesses. Slightly educated estimates.

Oh that will be really hilarious. But when all is said and done, the ugly boss and the ugly lawyers will come for half your loot and then what?. When I win that kind of money, all the nasty mean ugly people I've encountered in my life, will become a distant memory, where they will be locked away forever. Too much fun to be had, to even spend a second of my time, on those kinds of idiots, will be a total waste. Happy playing.

 mypiemaster,

   It is my overactive mind thinking. But yes, to avoid litigation, best just not even bother. Like you said, with that much money, mean people would become but only a memory.

  Good Luck to you as well.

I am the one that going to win, well, i spent 36 dollars!!

 $36? Wow, I hope it pays off for you. 

   Good Luck to you.

Where'd u get those number from?Not even a 4 year old would be that stupid to say that.

And someone who uses ad hominem and "u" is intelligent? Just because you're not educated enough to understand probability and statistics doesn't mean

others are stupid.

I just reads news report that said that 80% of the possible combinations have been sold.  I will be stunned if it rolls but I can expect to see a peak in last minute sales tonight so unlikely. Either way I predict that 2-3 tickets will win it like thebig MM.

With over 80% of combinations sold u think there is a 20% chance of it rolling, with  8 hours left to play? Your intelligence is beyond this universe.

 Somebody on a "post" told you? And that, is a verifable source? Mmmmmmkay, carry on.

  Nah, yoho. Come on, most combinations have been exhausted, a rollover? Really? I would eat my own hat if that were the case

well its rolled, from 475 to 600 mill thats 125 mill, 50% of  money take is paid in prizes, and the top prize collects what %20? so the 125 hike on the pot is prob 20% of ticket sales ie  50c of ea ticket sold goes to the pot. 125 / 0.5. on my vauge calculations means 250 million ticket sales?

The jackpot is going to roll again....

Yes using the word u means UR less intelligent...I use u all the time and I have a masters degree and am 26...

most combinations have been exhausted,

they sell the same losing number combinations to thousands of people from east coast to west coast.

If they sell only one winning ticket tonight, and it goes to California I may lose it.

lose what your ticket?

If you know everything then is us the real percent are or STFU you negative Hater.

you sound like that guy that chasing that rabbit

WOW!!! Using argumentum ad hominem, on a fellow poster on a fun day like this, might be percieved as ..........unwise? Why question one's intellectual ability, abundant mentality and superficial magnetism? Simply stated, all this mental joisting and cacophony, on a day we should only be thinking of having fun and getting filthy rich might actually result in intellectual disability. Let's all just get rich and have some fun doing it. Peace.

Lose my mind. It'll be just my luck that I've been playing for a while and a state newly added will sell the winning ticket. 

But I told my friend who lives there to leave her house and go buy a ticket...just in case. I want my odds covered. 

You go check yourself. Mmmmmmmmmmmmkay, carry on.

102 Tickets for me heres hoping.

The cash value right now is about .63 of the advertised amount, and each ticket contributes a hair under $0.64 to the cash value. That means that the number of tickets sold is about what the increase in the advertised jackpot is.

Considering that it's just past 3PM and they still haven't bumped it up from an even 600, MUSL must not have much confidence that the final tally will be very much above that. If it finishes at 625 that will be an increase of 275 from the last advertised jackpot of 350, so actual sales should be fairly close to 275 milion tickets.

A distribution based on pure probability suggests that the percentage of combinations that have been sold is significantly below the 80% that some are claiming. The chances of a rollover should be pretty close to 1 in 4.

NEGATIVE VIBES GO AWAY!!!! KARMA KARMA KARMA!!!

'Merica!!! 

RUN ORB RUN!!!

singlewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinner

I need to stop with the coffee or something...

come PB players add 100 millions so we can beat mega million, and become the biggiest jackpot. I gonna win  it.

The lottery commision said that 80% of all possible combinations has already been sold and that was a couple of hours ago.

We need to go back to MM on 3/27/2012 when the Jackpot was $363M.

This was the drawing before the big $643M MM Jackpot.

For the $363M drawing 190,922,875 tickets were sold.

The odds are 1 out of 175,711,536.

Do we really know the interaction of duplicates and many people picking 1-2-3-4-5-  6PB?

I know most people are crunching numbers and getting all scientific and stuff. And it's a much better way of looking at the probabilities than mine. 

But all I need to happen is for most people to have gotten really mystical about it and to have chosen their own numbers (instead of qp's) and for most of the numbers drawn tonight to be above 31. That's it. That's all I'll need to either win it myself, for a greater chance of it to be a 1 winner ticket OR to rollover. 

Most people who pick the numbers, choose birthdates. If the numbers tonight come in at 31 and under, there is going to be multiple winners and they'll be no rollover. 

Of course my theory has a big ol' flaw in it, in that most ticket sales are qp's. But a gal can dream can't she?

I'm sitting this one out and love watching all the lotto crazy!

Hope for your win or at least someone you know lol

See alot of peeps buying. Probably won't know the true amount until after the draw. GL

I didn't go crazy. I went crazy the last 2 times and I think I won $7. LOL. I only bought 2 tickets this time, 1 chosen and 1 qp. If I don't win anything I won't feel like a sap over 4 bucks.

You wont even spend $2.? That's less than what Boney will spend, and matches Jammy's efforts. 

I suppose it is safe to say that you are a loser in tonight drawing? 

The last time I refused to get even one line I had the correct bonus number selected and could have doubled me money. Lets just hope your not sacrificing $600 million in exchange for $2. 

could have sworn they would have bumped it up to $650M by now.

Can't believe they wouldn't have pulled in $50M between yesterday's bump and now

Yeah somebody who has about a thousand posts on a lottery message board is going to sit out one of the biggest jackpots of all time.   I beleive you...

Was going to stay with two tickets, then had time to kill while son had bass guitar lesson.

Oh look, there's a convenience store close enough to walk to.

Now I have three. Maybe that's the one.

good thinking

Along with my usual 1 ticket I bought 4 more, all with PowerPlay. If it bumps again I may get 1 more. Good Luck to all Lottery Post fans !!

I bought 26 lines!

I was at regular place I buy my tickets and lady said, at 10:00 AM EST, she had sold over $1800.00 already this morning I thought for it would be increase at Noon today to $650, or at Six maybe nothing... I guessing it will around $680 when we finish tonight, I got by winning ticket,, Hoping for the best......:)

just like other MM/PB half billion  plus records

it be more more amount they said come draw time

they just not brothering to update it today"must of lottery staff off sat

lottery ceo's in charge of pb had phone call, said it be close , massive sells  like this, they can't  do a spot on number...................

so they are waitin

when in a few hours  anyway they just know final numbers and tell us at draw video

not like sells going to be effected much past 600 marketed, everyone buying

i think we beat old pb cash record for sure

doubt MM monster will ever be beat

onless this rolls against all odds  and becomes first billion jackpot

 our thro away money  lottery budgets will be broken if that happens.............

i just got about 10 bucks worth,  same as if i got me  large pizzahut meat lovers pizza , my fav  i live without tonite 

if it rolls, "mr.  please play responsibly" is going to be kicked off top of  lottery building spartan-style by powerball on a madness power trip of billion dollars

mr.  please play responsibly:  don't spend money u can use for other useful stuff

powerball: u insult my jackpot.   u threaten my people with low jackpots

mr.  please play responsibly:  this is madness!

"powerball looks over to sign that reads 975 million dollars, it updates to 1 billion dollars right then , powerball looks back"

powerball: this is billion dollars! "kicks"

This has got to be higher than $600,000,000.00 by now, every store I went into today had a line.  It's never like that.

 Oh my, you have more guts than most! Nah hold it, someone at the store ahead of me shelledout $400, to the annoyance of everyone waiting behind them.... 200 lines!.  10 lines per ticket! Heck, both cashiers had to take turns printing all of them out.

 It was different in my part of town. The lines were minimal. I am assuming that most tickets were bought between Thursday and yesterday.....****shrugs***

That's strange, the opposite has been true in my experience. Most QPs I get give me a set where there is no number larger than 31. On plays where I pick the numbers, I make sure I have at least one number greater than 31.

Woohoo. In that case, let's hope it did that to all (if not most) the QP's this time and that a lot of the numbers hit over 31. My QP's are always all over the place, I've never noticed a pattern either way.

I'd really really love to win something over 3 digits tonight, but I also really really REALLY want to see what it'll hit if it rolls over to Wednesday. 

Poor MM. I don't think anyone will be buying MM tickets until this PB goes. People spent so much money on PB it'll take a while for both JPs to build up again if it goes between tonight and Wednesday.

Zero chance it rolls again but the final tally will certainly be over the 600M advertised.

zero chance of roll over, what about if the winning numbers are WB. 1-2-3-4-5 and PB - 1

Then there might be 1,000 jackpot winners since such numbers are common. Each one would collect 600 thousands while the 2nd prize winners would collect guaranteed 1 millions except in CA where we have pari-mutuel.

Riot would break out!

how many lines for you?

 Some stores had a short line, some, none at all. More than likely a lot, bought their tickets in advance to AVOID the lines.

I bought 6 different stores. 100 of stores that sell lotterywhich close to the my house!!

Well, in a strategy that will surely pay off, I already signed the back of all three PB tickets in my possession. First thing you should do when you realize you're holding the winner! 

 A premomition on your part, Arrowhead?.

   Good Luck to you.......

And to you!

I just got my ticket from Publix and even they had a line. First time I have ever noticed a line there.

Minnesota has not had a major Power Ball Winner since 2001 I predict a single Winner here Tonite

 On va voir, mon ami. On va voir.

I read on the Hoosier lotto Facebook page that Indiana has the most Powerball wins with 38... So maybe tonight I can be a part of making it 39!!!!!!

Welcome to the LP 

Hey, who knows? You might very well be the 39th.

  Good Luck, Ashabug.

Georgia wins again.

I'd like to think it was for a lottery pool. I can't imagine an individual spending that much for a 1 in 175m chance to win. 

For some reason I think when the jackpot gets around this amount, it is never gonna roll again. Do I wish it would?.........of course, who wouldn't want to throw money down on a billion dollar jackpot!

  You could be very right Piaceri. However, the crossed eyed looks from the patrons behind this individual, were priceless! 

Thanks sandia!!! Good luck to you, and all other lp'ers tonight!!!!!! I really hope somebody from here wins :-D

I usually drop a good amount on each draw when it gets up there. This one sneaked up on me, tonight is the 1st time I played anything on this run. Maybe cali had a hand in it jumpin so high so quick?!

Good luck to everyone who played tonight,I hope ya win big!

The game almost close.

Call me a greedy person if ya want.........but I hope when I wake up sunday mornin the lottery app on me phone will say 1 jackpot winner! Wherever it may be be, let it be one person. lol

 Non, mon cheri. You are overtly optimistic that's all. Nothing selfish in that. However, the chances of a single winner, are very slim at this point.

   Good Luck, mightwin.

I think the chances of it rolling and having a single winner are pretty close........small

nobody can buy tickets anymore anyone wanna post the number on their ticket?

Can still buy tic for another 30-35 mins

My state close 59 minutes before the drawing.

I remember the mega thread back in the day, was 30+ pages at this jackpot amount and we are at 14 tonight, oh the good old days lol.........must be the weather.

 My state closes shop between 9:00 and 9:15 p.m. CST.

Wow... Used to at one gas station I could buy 15 mins before drawing... Now it stops at about 25-30 til

Place i live closed at 10:00 PM EST

Haha... Was thinking of this earlier this afternoon!!! Good stuff

it will beat the mega million jackpot from last year! no doubt.

ashabug is hoping.......one jackpot winner Indiana! lol. Night everyone good luck!

The jackpot yes, the thread, not even close!!!!

I expect MM to go higher, but it already won.

Soooooooooooooooooooooo close now!

Ok, after doing a quick research, back in the day was a little over a year ago.....and it was 50 pages, over 700 repiles. Ah.......did we lose alot of members? Wheres everyone at?

I'm only hit n miss on here... Busy with my babies... But there r a lot of 'regular' lpers, if u will, absent from this run :(

Some of them were standing on the line, and forgot to get in here.

_^!

Ask girl i like to marry tomorrow, after winning it.

2

Did the powerball website crash? I can't get in

USA Mega is going strong!  Results posted live at 10:59 pm, and the site is as quick as ever, even with traffic going off the charts.  (This webmaster is smiling!)

STRANGE:  The Powerball jackpot did NOT reach the estimated $600 million mark -- it is officially $590.5 million.  Still the top Powerball jackpot, and #2 of all time.

It was probably hit, lots of low numbers for birthdays except the 52

Thank you, Todd! Already checked my numbers... $4 winner! 

Roll baby Roll!!!

Nothing here.I hope it rolls so I can have another chance at a big jackpot!

10-13-14-22-52  PB 11

Had I picked my own numbers I would have had 10 13 14 and maybe the 11 as powerball instead I took a QP and had zero numbers.

Guessing 0 winners and 55 second place.  Crazy ##s.

ONE BILLION - let it roll!!!!!!

So, is there a winner or not? How soon will we know?

1-2 hours..... Hopefully not, but we shall see... Dun dun dunnnnnnnn...... Lol :)

usually takes 3-4 hours, with big JP may take a little longer

They usually put it up between 12:30 and 1am. But with so many tickets sold it might take longer

I matched 10 , 13....do I get anything?

"I matched 10 , 13....do I get anything?"

Unfortunately, no. If you had the power ball though, you would have won $7.

(Match 2 #'s + PB = $7)

No, you need at least 3 white balls OR 1 red ball to win anything.

Thank you Todd. It's still down so I'm sticking with USA Mega. 

It's really odd that it hadn't gotten to $600. Here I was thinking it would have been 650 tonight. Guess the PB people guesstimated more than they should.

I played 3 lines but didn't get one number. I checked the NYL site, and usually when someone wins, the NYL website changes its format to "high jackpot mode" for quicker loading.

Hopefully there will be multiple winners.

If you don't understand how it works, have the store clerk check your ticket.  Good luck!

Thats just evil

Lol

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

1 winner or a rollover, come on, come on, come on...

  Powerball Jackpot Winner!  There was one  $591 million jackpot winner from Florida in the Saturday, May 18, 2013 Powerball drawing.  More details to follow after the winner comes forward to claim their prize.

wowser

someone epic rich

in tax free state to boot

INSANE amount of money to be won by 1 ticket

if its not a group and just 1 person/married couple whatever, it be new record for 1 person

rawr someone won! :(

Who?

singlewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinnersinglewinner

Looks like one winner in Florida, no rollover per USAMEGA

in florida!!!!!! one winner!!!

1 winner in florida

Powerball Jackpot Winner!  There was one  $591 million jackpot winner from Florida in the Saturday, May 18, 2013 Powerball drawing. 

One winner from Florida. 591 millions.

The media would be all over him or her.

That's odd it didn't reach 600$ mil? All of those long lines?! Hmmm
Hope it rolls just to see how big it can go. GL all

Wow, with no state tax in Florida, that's a real sweet win!!!

Unbelievable. Did'nt expect that.

Congrats to all winners and posters of 10,13,14,22,52+11

Whoa I'm late 1 winner in fl!! Amazing! Yea can't claim anonymously here too bad, congrats to the winner!

I guess this would break the world record for both annuity and cash value? The bigger 656 millions MM last year had 3 winners. This one only one winner.

EDIT: if this is an office pool, then it doesn't break the record for a single individual.

if they take the cash

227,647,600 atfer 39.6% fed max tax

227m , ya cash in a bank account

someone future unborn great grand kids will be rich ROFL

media going to eat this winner up

hope they stay safe and can hide ,sense i fear amount of beggers this winner may get will be epic large

am very happy only 1 ticket won,  i hate how past records had 2/3 winners

am just hoping someone life is changed forever in best way possible

Ya never know it might still be a lottery pool, we'll see when the winner or winners come forward.

I would take the annuity. Judging from the payout table, it's good enough for me.

Year     %       Prize B4 Taxes
01     1.78%     10,537,589
02     1.85%     10,959,093
03     1.93%     11,397,456
04     2.01%     11,853,355
05     2.09%     12,327,489
06     2.17%     12,820,588
07     2.26%     13,333,412
08     2.35%     13,866,748
09     2.44%     14,421,418
10     2.54%     14,998,275
11     2.64%     15,598,206
12     2.74%     16,222,134
13     2.85%     16,871,020
14     2.97%     17,545,860
15     3.09%     18,247,695
16     3.21%     18,977,603
17     3.34%     19,736,707
18     3.47%     20,526,175
19     3.61%     21,347,222
20     3.76%     22,201,111
21     3.91%     23,089,155
22     4.06%     24,012,722
23     4.23%     24,973,230
24     4.39%     25,972,160
25     4.57%     27,011,046
26     4.75%     28,091,488
27     4.94%     29,215,147
28     5.14%     30,383,753
29     5.35%     31,599,103
30     5.56%     32,863,068
     100.00%   591,000,029

If it's a pool I wonder what the over/under will be on the number of disgruntled non-participants who'll try to sue to get a part (whatever the number I'd take the over).

Congrats to the winner, for your own sake I hope you play it smart with the money.

2 CA winners won 2.3 Millions each and they didn't even pay for PowerPlay since it's not available in CA.

Lucky for them.

Happy spending to the "One Lucky Winner"

I purchased one ticket and didn't have one number, lmaoooooooooooooooooooo

Maybe I"ll keep playing these same numbers, since they were a quick pick from one of the biggest jackpots?

Good Luck.

Looks like Alex Rodriguez's contract with the Yankees.

Now we all know that it is possible for the jackpot to get THIS BIG and

have only 1 winning ticket.

 good thing you saved your 2 dollars

Power Ball Next drawing: Wed, May 22nd Available Soon

Mega Millions Next drawing: Tue, May 21 Available Soon

What do mean How did they win that each?

I agree. You can only win $1 million. And in Cali, it's parimutuel payout.

I'm confused.. On usamega, there were two winners who won 2.3 mill. How? Anyone care to explain?

I don't know how it works but here's the payout table for CA

Hmm.. While I was reading your post, I shifted to usamega and saw the table and it's weird how those two winners got 2.3 mill...

Maybe a mistake? Maybe Todd knows?

Mega Millions May 21st  $12 Million

California has pari-mutual payouts. They are not eligible for power play. I think a draw or two ago, the 5+0 only won something like $200k. Or maybe that was MM. Don't remember for sure, but I believe it was much less than the others.

Yep, it was last Wed PB drawing:

6 winners $256,317 each.

Isn't it based on sales? My guess is strong sales in California. Parimutuel isn't always bad. Had there been more winners of 5+0 in California, their winnings would have shrunk.

OK second place is 5 of 5 $1,000,000 and if only 1 person in CA has those number they get the whole

thing? Or if more people win 5 of 5 they have to split the $1,000,000?

Mega Millions 5 of 5 is $250,000 and if more than 1 winner in CA they have to spilt the $250,000 right?

@ piaceri & masone: makes more sense to me. Thanks for clearing that up.. That's pretty cool. A nice hefty $2.3 million profit - nice!

Yes!!! This is how it works! This is my understanding of para mutual. So what's the deal with the 2.3? I'm sorry I'm just so confused. My head hurts thinking about it.

For example, if we were in town A, and the jackpot was $100... I win first place and Nikki wins first place as well. No one wins but us. Since para mutual applies to town A, I and Nikki have to split the prize - $50 each.

How come those Cali winners of $2.3 million have $2.3 million each, when second prize is $1 million?

Wait? So it's from the sales, right?

$2.3 million each or $1.15 million each?

lol I'm just as confused as you are!!

Parimutuel means a certain % of the money played is dedicated to each prize level. In this case 4.6 million dollars was available for the second prize level. Since two people won they each got half of that. Just divide 4.6 million by the number of second place winners. Hope that clears it for you.

This is false. 

the second place prize amount depends on sales. It is 9.7% of the total revenue from ticket sales. Therefore, if 1000 tickets were sold, the total revenue is

2000, and the 2nd place prize is 194 in TOTAL, for all winners. So if there are 10 winners, each get 19.4 bucks.

If 1,000,000 tickets were sold and there are 10 winners, it becomes 19,400 bucks each.

and if 100,000,000,000 tickets were sold, and only 1 winner, the 2nd prize in cali would be 19,400,000,000.

I didn't get a single number. I bet if I were to move to New York, Florida or Missouri. The next big JP is going to be won in my town. That's how unlucky I am when it comes to winning huge on the lottery, period.  The most I ever won was 100 dollars on a scratch off ticket.

Ding ding ding!!

Perfectly well said. I finally understand. Makes so much sense to me now. Thanks for clearing that up. I guess now, all there's left to do is: criticize tonight's PB winner for not paying child support, LOL!! JK. :P

Thanks New York.

any news on the WINNER

If this goes unclaimed I will literally cry

Surprise surprise. 

The player is a winner, even if they don't bother to collect. 

One ticket winning, if it was one person as it seems to be now because there's no way a pool of people could keep quite this long, they're probably still in freakout mode while getting as much as they can settled before claiming and probably hoping the longer they hold off in FL's time limit more it'll be forgotten about.

Looking forward to seeing who it is!! I'd still be in "freak out" mode, if I won that much!

Having this jackpot prize of $600 million for sure there will be another lottery buying frenzy again. I'm sure a lot of players are excited for this jackpot too. I will be extremely happy if I will get even half of the prize.