I just bought a couple of tickets for this drawing.

700 MILLION PLUS!!! I'm RICH B*TCH!!!

There  is bound to be more than 1 jackpot winner.....one of them will be me!!!!

"Players should expect that the jackpot will increase again one or more times before the Saturday drawing, and unless standing in long lines can be considered "fun", players should buy their tickets early." 

Yeah, Todd, they are low balling it for sure. It will beat the old record cash jackpot easily.

Hell, they know from last record jackpot sales amount that players can push this thing to around 531,900,000 cash or 869,100,000 annuity!

WOW!  Thought somebody won it last night.  700 million dallas?  God dam!  Now I now it will roll into the billion dallas!  I'm telling ya, this is the time!  I wouldn't mind taking the annuity on this giant of a prize.  My daughter can claim the rest of the money after I die.  I just need the starting 5 million dallas to start my thing and live happily ever after.  I can't have the pressure of dealing with so much money, trusting financial advisers with it, investors, etc. right off the bat.   Would give me a heart attack.  I need some heavy education in finances first.

 I have noticed that when another top 25 jackpot win is made then Andrew Jackson "Jack" Whitaker will be pushed out. Either MM or PB. Jack is at #25 West Virginia 315.million.

 David Lee Edwards was overtaken a few record jackpots ago.

 Back to this Record-Breaking jackpot. $700 million!!!

 I am sure that this upcoming exchange of posts between Todd, Terry Rich, and us lottery members will include a few words about this history making activity.

What a trillion dollars looks like with double stacked pallets. Wow, I can find room for it don't worry lol. 7 packets wide by 16 packets deep, with each packet being $10,000. 7 x 16 = 112 packets per layer 112 x $10,000 = $1,120,000 per layer. Also shows several other examples of a million, billion, etc. Hope to hit the Powerball soon for at least 5 pallets of almost a half of a billion lol. The little guy on the bottom left is an average sized person lol. A FARM of money baby! http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/calculations.html

^{it could be one or multiple winners} 

Goooooo GOOOOOO POWERBALL !!! U CAN DO IT! 

I am about to have a POWERBALL FEVER !!!! :)

This is great.Somebody going to win soon,a ton of money.Well I had the powerball number,that was 12bucks,come on lottery gods,work ur magic 4me.Good Luck,my lotto post peeps.

 How I will look when i see my ticket is a winner. Then at 1:00am when i find out im the single winner of the biggest jackpot of all time. Thank you for everyone for their donations towards my many Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces, Bugatti Veyrons, and the big ass garage with a few bedrooms in it to store them. A month and a half in the bahamas should get me used to the 1% life real well.

I want a smart car

That jackpot is huge. I don't want to share with everyone! Sharing is caring what people say , but not in this case.  If i do win ,  i might have to move to another country , to get away from the leaches ( family members , so called friends)!!

Don't, they have very little crumple zone.

In my Opinion I think that If powerball hit 500 million and no one wins, Money should be spread among second tier. Instead of one person winning the whole thing to him or herself. We all bought tickets to boost the sales, so it's only fair if everyone that bought a ticket get its share. Good luck to everyone

The website that sells tickets to residents from abroad is currently "down for maintenance". 

Quite possible they are experiencing an enormous amount of traffic.

$700 Million Wooo Hoo!!!!   

wow! Quite the announcement!

Heres wishing for a blessed winner .

Cold cash in hand .

Warm heart in deeds!

Haha, too bad Alabama won't see a penny of this. Gonna be a lot of Bama tags at the Pilot store in Tallapossa, GA.

I fell you

Please tell me you're kidding. You think people are shelling out their money so 700 people can become millionaires? If you really want fair then everyone who bought tickets should get something back. But because we're adults and not in little league where everyone is given a prize for participating, then the system as is is fair. You know what the game is and what the odds are. If you choose to still play, that's it. There are many games with much more frequent winners where max's are capped. Since MUSL doesnt have monopoly on gambling, no one should think it's unfair.

I love this comment. A blessed and warm hearted winner indeed.

Craziness...what are the odds of it reaching 1 billion by Saturday, I wonder.

True to that, hope they manage to buy all tickets, and scan them. Must be a hell of a job to do this work this week..

It'll get to a billion by Saturday judging by the huge line at my small town store.    People are buying $20, 50, $100 worth of tickets.  This is crazy.  Everybody is talking about Powerball!

I 1000% agree with you on that. i want to see one winner just to make people mad. i spend my $2 to be the jackpot winner all other prizes are just nice to have but i go in either with the hope of millions of dollars or crap out.

Haha, there won't be much to spread around.  This time there will likely be 75-100 5+0 winners I'd say.

The lotter websites is back.

Did you know Lotterypost websites crash last night for at least 30 minutes or more.

Good luck everyone.

Virgin post for me on this site.  Been coming here over the years just for updated lottery news and read some of the comments.  Figured might as well post from time to time.

I'll be picking up my tickets before the drawing.

My family from Anniston.  They all car pooling to exit 5 early Saturday.

Alabama going to get a lottery real soon.  They losing too much money not having one.

Can i ask someone this question? What time of day is the best time to buy a ticket or tickets when the jackpot is huge like this? Morning , Lunch time , etc...? Or buy them in advance like a day before the drawing?

I agree 100%.  It used to irritate me when they capped the poweball back in the day.  If there are multiple winners of the jackpot, so be it, but don't do anything artificial to spread the money around.

At 1:38 PM local time. The problem is no one knows what time zone will win.

I don't know what is the best time but making sure you have them in advance is a good idea.  Twice when I waited until the last minute I went into my favorite retailer to get my ticket and the terminal system was down.  Once it came back fairly quickly and once I found out it was all the lottery terminals in the state.  Luckily I live near other jurisdictions and was able to go to the next state over and get my ticket just before the cut off.

Here's a thought.  If for some reason nobody wins Saturday's drawing, could next Wednesday's jackpot top a billion dollars ???

in 2012 for the largest at the time mega million jackpot there was 132 5+0. and 29 from California. so good chance of that being very true

Yes, I am seeing the same thing.  Alot of people buying tickets, even today a couple of days before the drawing.  Also everyone talking about it.  Every convenient store I go to (I make a couple of stops at them for work) everyone is talking about it. 

And did anyone see how many 2nd prize winners there were last night? *** 14 *** and 1 bonus 2nd prize winner.  So 14 people hit for 1 mil and 1 for 2 mil, which I think they should pay the multipler like MM does.  How much you think THOSE people are gonna play to try to win MORE? Or will they be happy with what they won?  I think they ALL will be buying LOTS of additional tickets. 

13-33-35-48-67 + 26
12-19-23-62-67 + 04
25-38-49-55-67 + 21
13-19-24-45-56 + 01
10-16-27-28-32 + 07
27-44-50-54-60 + 04
09-10-11-25-54 + 14
08-23-31-36-62 + 23
02-38-39-41-48 + 25
05-06-33-45-69 + 15
10-21-43-48-50 + 15
02-39-43-44-66 + 14
15-19-26-52-68 + 24
15-16-23-47-58 + 09
13-34-42-58-65 + 05
10-44-50-63-65 + 19
05-31-33-38-51 + 15
12-14-23-45-60 + 06
27-36-44-62-69 + 26
13-18-45-50-68 + 26
07-09-20-45-50 + 22
05-10-27-35-50 + 10
05-10-31-63-67 + 15
04-07-15-37-41 + 16
40-53-65-66-68 + 05
17-19-24-51-54 + 12
04-15-32-43-67 + 09
15-20-41-56-65 + 06
08-09-15-44-69 + 04
12-31-53-55-58 + 23
03-07-33-50-69 + 23
05-07-13-58-61 + 10
31-34-54-58-69 + 21
15-19-47-63-66 + 04
05-25-56-67-69 + 10
02-03-07-08-26 + 19
22-25-30-42-52 + 08
11-40-41-43-46 + 17
03-22-27-29-61 + 15
25-41-44-61-65 + 22
17-21-29-40-59 + 16
01-46-47-51-52 + 05
02-41-57-64-65 + 21
34-41-45-63-67 + 12
32-35-43-50-56 + 05
16-22-25-33-62 + 05
01-04-46-50-64 + 11
01-28-30-35-53 + 01
03-32-46-65-67 + 25
38-43-49-53-61 + 18

I think so too !

Every loser they buy is a definite write off, not just a maybe on a possible future win.

Thrifty,

Are you buying all those lines ?

There were a bunch of 2nd place winners last draw. I would be shocked if no one wins it this week with all the tickets being sold...

I heard on NPR that they pushed the jackpot up to $700mil. $300 away from a billion. I'll be able to get my tickets in SC.

I said I didn't think this would make a billion dollars.  Getting ready to eat my words.  At $700,000,000 and two and a half more days to go, it just might make it.

Welcome to LP!

Barry Sanders approves of this messege

Barry Sanders? What does football have to do with the $700 mil Powerball jackpot?

I think by Friday morning it will be 800,000,000. Friday night 850,000,000. Sat morning we'll see 900,000,000. And PB wants so bad for it to hit 1 billion that we will see it happen. 

I think it will be 1 Billion dollars come Sat night and we will have 6 winners of the Grand prize and 25 winners of the 2nd prize...

Powerball changed the Matrix recently so it could get to a Billion dollars...

No lines in Boise at 1:30 today.  I went to a vending machine at Rite Aid first, then a likker store.  Walked by a Stinker and only 1 car there so probably no lines there either.

Yes, if this prize was divided up into 1 million per person, first, it couldn't be a random draw.  It would have to be a raffle or something.  Second, no way on earth would it be worth even half this amount.  It probably would still be around 50 mil.  People don't put down lots of money in order to win a million bucks anymore.

should be a most curious weekend

best of luck to all

please let it hit in VA

I splurged and spent $500 on PB tickets this morning!  It's the most I've ever spent on lottery tickets.  At 10 am there were 7 people in line to buy tickets.  I thought I was the only smart one.  Don't wait until the last minute when the terminals will be overloaded and shut down. 

I've also made a list of friends who will be part of a Trust if one of my tickets win the big jackpot.

Cha-ching!   

You should vote on the rules by not buying any tickets when the jackpot is more than $500 million.

Did you have a strategy other than a bunch of quick picks?

How long is the press conference when you win the powerball and how be for I receive my money?

its best to look at previous drawings and determine from there, like i know that 3 consecutives are possible and shouldn't be ruled out, having patterns like 14 24 34 or 1 low number and 4 high, numbers, powerball is anyones guess

I don't think i can ever justify spending $500 on just a single draw alone, I would expect that money to last for a year of draws.

I am thinking about getting an extra ticket for this .........

I hope you wheeled these with a strategy??    I'm not opposed to playing big wheels  with a strategy but playing $500 of quick picks is probably not the way to go.

Hope it works out for you. Presumably, you bought 250 tickets without Powerplay. With the jackpot odds being 1 in ~292 million, your combined odds of winning is still a far out 1 in ~1.17 million. Even hitting 2nd place, which pays $1 million (except California) with 250 tickets is 1 in 46,752. More realistic, but still a huge long-shot. Good luck!

Personally, I bought two tickets with Powerplay, since hitting 2nd place is 25 times more likely than 1st. That extra $1 million will come in handy to cover the taxes on the base $1 million prize. On the other hand, if I'd skipped buying Powerplay, I could have bought a 3rd ticket. So it's a gamble, but figure I'd go with the odds, while hoping for the big one, knowing it's far more likely to hit a lower tier prize, which is doubled or more with Powerplay.

Rock on!  I admit to fantasing more about how I could have fun at the press conference than the actual dinero. Lol!!!

Most were quick picks.  Some were specific numbers above 31.  I don't play birthday numbers.

Not all states require a press conference.  Idaho doesn't.  I believe Illinois encourages their winners to do one, but you can get out of it if you really want to.

"In Illinois, big jackpot winners are compelled to make themselves public to prove the lottery is paying out its prizes — something that wasn't done decades ago when such games of chance were scams, Illinois Lottery Superintendent Michael Jones said. Though the lottery could insist winners do a news conference, Jones said officials offer some wiggle room to those who want privacy.

"We will work with whoever the prize-winner is," he said. "But we would publicize as much as we can about the winner as is needed," and "ultimately an enterprising reporter can find out who that person is."

It takes MUSL time to gather up all the proceeds from each state, so from what I've heard, it can take 2 weeks or so to get your money.

30+ days.  They do a background check on you to see if you have any back taxes due, missed child support payments, unpaid driving tickets, etc....if so, they deduct that from your winnings before you get your money.

Gotcha. 

Just want to point something out to you though- you could have wheeled all 26 power balls 9 times for $500 guaranteeing that you would at least hit $36.  :)

Read my signature!

What other 'strategy' could she possibly need?

Analyzing past draw results, looking for trends, patterns, or at least organizing selected numbers i.e. Wheeling.  Not everyone is a fan of wheeling though.

Three way split..

Pinko.

That a long time to wait, when you have a clean record

Thank you NBC news for just reporting the Powerball jackpot sans negative aspects i.e. greater chance of getting hit by lightning, etc.  Just once I wish they would report say on the amount of millionaires it has created over the past five years.  No, that would be a feel good story that wouldn't sell too well.

Oh that is a pet peeve of mine too!  Also some people have won multiple times.  Lol. Just sayin'. :-). How about a little positivity?  As our lottery slogan here in ga says "Today could be the day!"  :-)

They might as well jack it up to 1 billy and get it over it. I'm sure some people will sell their first born, figuratively speaking, just to get in the $1B game.

I think it will happen.

One BILLION dollar Jackpot

I just went and got some tickets and was talking to the clerks, I asked how the sales have been and they said oh ugh, it has been nuts and nonstop.  Yesterday their particular store sold over $2000 dollars worth.  One clerk was glad tomorrow is the last day for her, she gets off Saturday, said she sure wouldnt want to be working that day!

Exciting days right now!

 Good Luck Everyone.

If not won Saturday I foresee a trip up 71 N to Ohio since there winners can remain anonymous.  Can't do that in Kentucky, but if I won here, that's OK...an LLC would be on the list of must do's.

Frell you Max. Even Bill Gates w/ his Billions sees the light. Many " want" $700 million,  but no one person " needs".. that much to survive. Get a load of this : California contributes the Lion's share to " most" jackpots- but you hardly ever hear us bit.h...ng about losing to say Iowa. In a word : shut your pie hole.

I don't care. Any day they cover a big jackpot and they don't feature Richard Lustig giving his asinine "advice", I count that as a victory for lottery reporting.

..especially when he shows up with his" Julie Andrews"- Sound of Music haircut. 

I know I said I just wanted the million dollar second prize and quietly disappear but screw that now, I want to be the first person in history to win a billion dollar jackpot. 

That would be so cool to win all that ..LOL..

I hear a lot of people bitching all the time and I don't care. :P You still have Raymond Buxton with his 425M$.

And Gates and his companions "pledge" is pie in the sky.

Tally ho! / Happy hunting!

The media frenzy will be fun to watch.  That is for sure!!!

And the comments about lustig have me lol!!!!

Also I want to add this is a perfect time to discuss a new party platform.  Lottery winnings should not be taxed since in theory you are buying tickets with dollars you have already been taxed on... Discuss... Lol!!!

It would be terrible to buy that many  tickets and not match at least three white balls or the powerball.

So painful to hear the "lame stream media" talk about large Jackpots as they really have NO clue, every other word is incorrect.  PLEASE have experts like TODD on to explain this correctly.

It's an Opinion Max, nothing more.Btw- Gates would disagree with you. 

I too enjoy that showing folks buying tickets; my favorite is Primm Lotto store in CA showing long lines of Las Vegans buying their tickets.

Of course he would, as would Buffet and Oprah and Ellison and all the people who say they will donate their money at some point close to their death. They typically put it into some kind of "charitable foundation" that they still have access to. 

I couldn't agree more. 

People always ignore the fact that Gates isn't giving up his multi-million dollar compound and all the other billionaire toys and creature comforts the rest of us will never experience. He wants to go down as one of the greatest philanthropists and he will. He hasn't downsized his incredible lifestyle to do so. About 90% of what this country considers necessary to live and function in the way they've become accustomed is not required to live. It's just stuff that makes life more comfortable and productive, but not needed

Billions in the world will never ever experience our normalcy, a life they would consider idyllic. So if what we have already isn't needed, just wanted, what's the difference between that and wanting more? What makes one want more obscene than the other? Especially if you aren't killing or scamming anyone to get it.

What if I say giving one morally responsible person $800 million will do more good to mankind than splitting it up between 3 random people, when the odds are 2 of those 3 people will squander it on nonsense that wouldn't benefit anyone but themselves and when it's gone end up on welfare for the rest of us to pay for. There are different ways of thinking about wealth distribution and so far neither of the two most popular sides seem to work.

Splitting wealth has as many drawbacks as keeping it to a chosen few. Since that's the case, I'd rather take it all than split it with another Marie Holmes or David Edwards. Absolutely selfish and yet more practical IMO.

The probabilities for various numbers of winners at a $700M annuity jackpot:     The Texas lottery website indicates that the revenue expected on this drawing (at this level is $351,835,913.    (I doubt the accuracy of their prediction, especially the last 6 digits, but no matter...)

This would amount to half that number in tickets sold.   If the ticket selection were totally random, and this proved to be the actual number of tickets sold, the Poisson distribution for the probability of various numbers of winners would be as follows:

The most probable outcome at this point is yet another rollover, although at this point it's more or less a 50/50 proposition.   (It is likely to be less than 50/50 after this is all said and done.

The expectation value is 0.81, not bad for a lottery with impossibly, miserably, low odds.

I have bought a ticket myself, the cost of which is covered by having a fantasy, however remote in actuality, of moving permanently to a country where Donald Trump's name is not mentioned, and one never has to worry about seeing him and his awful haircut on any kind of electronic scheme.

01/07/16

No lines at the 711 on Main St. in Marlton,  NJ today.

Guess most folks wait until last minute to buy those red hot tickets.

Good Luck LP Players

no lines in Barrington RI, Warren RI, Bristol RI, Middletown RI (only places I went today)

Just giving you guys a heads up. I have every intention on winning, so if you could cut out the middle man and send me your money. 

I would be most appreciative.

Thanks. 

I love the comments in this thread ! Lol

My college years are way behind me so my knowledge of Probability and Statistics is limited. 

Nevertheless thank you for these informative and insightful posts. I enjoy them very much.

Thank you.

You gonna buy Rolling Acres Mall? I think that's Stephen

My guides in the heavens tells me one sole winner in the state of Arizona will win $1,000,300,000.00

Yes, I can see that. It is mass insanity:

Mass insanity, mass insanity, mass insanity.
No new contracts.  There is now a mass insanity clause.
You say you don't believe in sanity clause?

(the line was borrowed (more or less), from an old Marx Brothers movie)

Hey CrazyJaney:

I see you live in my favorite burb. LOVE LOVE LOVE Alpharetta. Just so happens my dream home AND my back up dream home are in Alpharetta too so that's convenient. I'd been eyeballing this place in Roswell, but just don't like Roswell as much. Worked in Alpharetta for a while, and the only downside is actually getting to it. Pleasant Hill Rd has to be the least pleasant road ever made. I was stuck on it during that "snow" ah hem "storm" couple years ago.

Heard Avalon is finished so I might take a trip there this weekend. Maybe if I buy a ticket in my favorite city it'll bring me luck 

I firmly think it will increase at least twice and I suspect it will get over 900million....!!!

I have no idea how I missed the haircut connection but now it's stuck in my head. 

My absolute fave was the one where they had him on with Cynthia. Every piece of advice he gave Cynthia had done the exact opposite and won more than he ever did. Best part was when the camera guy burst out laughing. Couldn't have scripted it any better myself.

Second that...

50-50 chance for another rollover...

CrAzY.......

Please, if you are the sole winner, could you see your way to part with at least .5 of it?  It would go towards a truck and a modest house.

Please, any/all players, I just need one helping hand of .5 million dollars (half a million dollars) total, of this enormous jackpot, if you are the sole winner.

Please think of how many people will not win anything.  I can't help thinking how one of them will be me, like usual.

I highly doubt there will be another rollover. I guess its possible since the odds have increased so much. 

But with so many ticket buyers I suspect there may be at least 1 or multiple winners. 

But yeah IF it rolls over again on saturday?......yeah billion jackpot here we come!!!

No bueno . Say no to 

Point taken Teddi, but l will summit to you that there has been quite a few 2-3 way splits involving massive jackpots and those folks turned out just fine...as far as we know." Edwards & Holmes * sounds like a Law firm, are an exception and definitely not the rule. In any event considering that millions of people are attempting to win- getting a " piece of the pie" can't be too bad as opposed to getting none at all.

Btw, how does one find this " morally responsible person who ends up with $800 million?"

Peace.

Guaranteed we're gonna see AT LEAST an $850 mil jackpot by Saturday.  Would love to see it hit the $1 BILL mark though !!!

Good Luck Everyone !!!   

Waves hi to Teddi! :-)

i so love Alpharetta! And yes I hope you get to buy your dream place up here! :-)  I'm hoping for some big wins for us peeps out here in the burbs! Lol 

Avalon is awesome!  The homes they are building in there are nice but it is even nicer that you can walk everywhere.  It is truly a mini city with a grocery store, shops, restaurants, and the movie theatre and common areas.  It is really well planned and a great place :-). 

I love Roswell too!  So many cool places on Canton street that have retained their charm and character. :-)

good luck to you and everyone playing! :-)

You know... I'm somehow disappointed that the pot hasnt been raised again today.

I really think they will be announcing a raise in the value tomorrow...

I only want it to roll over to 1 billion if I don't have the winning numbers on Saturday. If it gets there before that I will take that too. I am going to guess it gets to $911,000,000 and I will win it alone. One can hope! 

On a side note, if I do win I will give someone on here $500,000. I won't miss it and it could help someone out big time! Good luck everyone

I'm with you. In addition to the money I would donate to charity id gladly offer up a lottery on here if I won the jackpot. I'd  give away two prizes of $1mill each raffle style. I have no idea how this would be done but would ask the lp

 administrators for help in making it happen. :).

Have any of you seen the video of the guy who was asked questions by a live reporter when he was filling out his Powerball sheets? Look up:  Reporter didn't expect this response after being asked what he'd do if he won $500 million. Made me LOL!

Sounds good to me. 

One Ticket

One Person

That will drive the Sanders Crowd even more looney LOL

Nah, that kills the appeal. There are smaller jackpots for that. Also would kill sales as they do not want that many people becoming millionaires so they keep playing. It would be good but winning almost a billion dollars would be MUCH better and generates way more buzz and sales. There are already tons of lower jackpot games. I would not complain with a 2nd prize in the several millions but the $700 million is what makes me want to play as I already play other games with those smaller amounts. This is not about making everyone who played rich, or getting something back. If it was the jackpot would be MUCH smaller and not as fun. That is why they made it harder to win too, for this kind of of buzz and sales. But didn't they do that awhile back? I remember them capping it or something and 2nd prize being like $20 million. Maybe it was Mega millions not sure.

You mean this video?

Smart guy, he got rid of the media REALLY fast. Ima say that at the press conference lol.  "OK folks press conference is over!" I bet she would be first in line.

I will look forward when you hold the winning check! GoodLuck!

I hope to win the Megamillions the night before so I remain completely anonymous.

That's the one. Thanks for that, I have no idea of how to post video like that.

The winner will be a time traveler from the year 2029 who will disappear at the press conference right after saying, "You won't see another one like this for quite a few years."

Ha Ha Ha this was great. 

I would take the annuity, that way you do not have to worry about where you are going to put all that money, bad investments and banks going under etc. My life will be set after the first year, and I will have millions in payments coming for 29 more years which is all just gravy.

I hope that you are young enough to live another 30 years. You will need insurance to pay the death tax on the remainder of the annuity. Otherwise, you will leave an estate nightmare for your heirs.

 Inflation might eat away your nest egg. 

 Hope for lower taxes and higher interest rates. You will need to ask about how the interest rate might remain the same throughout the thirty years.

Happy dreaming!!

it will be that english couple,  waiting all this time  to actually get revenge for  that  " glitch "

oh and im gonna win mega millions tonight and avoid all the attention

I think we will see another bump by the end of the day

The same thing could happen with the annuity, it is dependent on investments to grow. 30 years is a long time. The way things are going now you take the money and run.

You have to admire this guy's sense of humor as he looked serious when he answered her question but then he turned and looked at the camera for just a split second with a smile on his face.

If she asked me, my reply would've been, "If I win the jackpot it will be just YOU and ME baby, just YOU and ME!"

That would have had her blushing.

Yeah, no one will even bother to pay attention to whoever wins that.  It's "small potatoes" ya know! LOL

It's odd . I don't  know if anyone else notice  , but when the jackpots got huge  a few years ago , there was something like 30 pages of comments about it..   And  it was only 300 to 500 million for the jackpot.. I just wonder if a lot of people are not playing anymore..         

Todd , any toughts  ?????

My observation of the rapid escalation in the jackpot amount over the lead up to the past two drawings s is twofold. Obvious in the way customers are asking for tickets is that they've never played before so attracting new (or very infrequent) players at these jackpot amounts. But more startlingly is people are playing big dollars- so frequent in stores to hear- $20, $30, $50, and $100 requests for Powerball tickets; just crazy dollar amounts requested in tickets. I'll play a couple of self picks and a couple of quick picks and hope for the best. good luck everyone.

My observation is less new players but as you noted people forking over big bucks buying tickets. Except for the Three Amigos, it seems like the big time lottery winners bought 5-10 tickets and still won. So, there is still hope for us yet. 

I'll be happy if it makes it to around $820M because that would make for a half a billion cash value.  I could live with that. 

141 comments on this one thread in less than 24 hours seems pretty normal, considering the number of Powerball news stories posted within the last couple of days.

By the way, Powerball just increased to $800 million!

It will be a lot higher. Today and Tomorrows sales are going to be insane. Possible 900.

Ohhh the cash value's going over half a billion, isn't it.  That's almost scary!

800 millions 

800 M !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Cash value $496M. Why all the tease?. Why not just make it one billy $1B and get it over with?.

With that amount of money inflation is not going to mean crap. My biggest expense will be my house and then I am done. I will be set for life after the first year. Sometimes annuities go up in value also. I used to work at a bank and have been self-employed now for 25 years so I know all about how to manage money and invest it if I want to. I make a great income and already have a pretty large savings. Also I have no "heirs" just me, myself and I. So I am tailor-made for the win. Taxes and interest are irrelevant with that kind of money I would not even come close to spending one year's worth. So I am not worried in the least bit. Way less hassle and worry about where you are going to out that much money and if anything will happen to it. This is a different type of annuity as we are talking several million a year, not a few hundred thousand and a several million total lump sum.

Omg lol lol

How did that go? Lol.