Magnificent.

Omg that's insane!  I'm in for 50 tickets,  work pool and yes we have document info and copies.

I said before: if this Powerball 3 day run has the same level of sales as the old world record Mega Millions had in 1 draw (the $656 million jackpot) We will be around:

531,900,000 cash
869,100,000 annunity 

Seeing as it's very possible, we will reach that level of sales. How much higher it would go past that is  anyone's guess.

Yesssssssssssssssss 800 million 

It's all speculation but if it's increased $100M in the last day, $1B should easily be met with essentially 2 days left.  The momentum is only building faster.  It's like a stock going parabolic.

$800 Million That's great!

"Anybody that wants to get mellow they can turn around and get the &^%*&^ out of here"

                                                                                                                              Ted Nugent

Mind blowing amount.

Wow..Holy cow  , thats alot of money..Would it be right to say it's going to be 900 Million on Saturday  ???

Todd we have not reached the worlds largest jackpot yet 

Spain's Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad (Spanish Christmas Lottery) is generally considered to be the world's largest lottery with the largest first prize/jackpot. In 2012, the first prize was €720 million (US$941.8 million). The total prize pool in 2012 was €2.52 billion (US$3.297 billion).

$900M for sure. This is ahead of my projections from earlier this week. Definitely will approach the billion dollar mark.

the  lotter down for "maintenance". 

Probably too much traffic!

You did not read the article.  You really should, because you are incorrect.

That article you linked even contains information that contradicts what you said:

As measured by the total prize payout, the Spanish Christmas Lottery is considered the biggest lottery worldwide.

"Total prize payout" is a prize pool, not a jackpot.  Even the top prize in El Gordo is a prize pool split by hundreds of people, not a jackpot.  And although El Gordo is commonly referred to as a "lottery", it is actually a raffle.

This is crazy! Good luck to everyone playing.

I also noticed the CV has now dropped to 62% of the annuity.  Last time I checked it was more like 64%+

One winner

One ticket 

Good Chance it'll go to: $1,000,000,000...

It's actually went back up slightly from the 61.2 it was at for the 1-6 drawing.

C'mon, stop the tease. Just jack the JP up to one billy and get it over with.

WOW!!!!! $800 Million   

I hope at this rate there are a few winners splitting the pot. One winner would be insane.
I also hope people aren't draining bank accts, life savings or spending money they shouldn't
spend..the odds are horrible but someone will win. For the sake of those already in too deep,
I hope it goes Saturday.
Gl everyone. I will be getting 5 tickets at different places with pp.

Bought two lines today ,, Thinking of spending $10 on an additional ticket tommorrow morning on way from work

Wont win but you cant win if you dont play and $4-14 isn't going to kill me

This is insane!!! Good luck everyone!!!

Yeah you know there are people out there dropping $1,000, $5,000, or even $10,000 on this drawing and they will likely not win.

I bought $16 worth and that was the most I was willing to spend.  I did 5 QP and I wanted to make sure to play trends for 3 tickets.  Back to back number pairs will be picked, guaranteed. 

I hope you are all playing trends too & good luck!

I totally underestimated this jackpot. I had thought it would have capped out 125 million or so ago. Not only is the prize insane, but the attention on the winner(s) will be a total zoo!

I agree. I think we are overdue for a repeat hit. This lottery averages .4 repeaters per drawing and has gone 18 consecutive drawings without a repeat hit!!

Wow, there are even line ups at Chinese restaurants. This is crazy!

There's obviously a better chance than ever before, but I'll still be surprised if it gets there without a roll.

MUSL obviously couldn't be sure ahead of time how big sales would be, because we're in unknown territory and because the hysteria that drives huge sales has diminished over the last few years. Neither of those invalidates all of the other data they have for making their estimates. I don't know how the pattern of sales varies from one drawing to the next, but MUSL knows. They know that if sales through noon on Thursday for a typical jackpot are $X then total sales by Saturday night will be in some range that's close to $Y. At noon on Friday they've got a bigger portion of sales to use for projection, so the range for Y gets smaller.

I'd guess the only thing they're at all fuzzy on at this point is how many last minute impulse plays there will be. Some people who rarely play or never play will decide at the last minute, and some regular players will decide to buy some  more tickets. Even for that they've got enough data to make an educated guess.

I'm sure they're playing things fairly conservatively, so at this point I'd be surprised if it doesn't at least reach 850, and I won't be surprised if we see 900, but I would be surprised if their current estimate is so conservative or so far off that we see a billion. As of now we're looking at an increase of about $272 million from the final tally for Wednesday's drawing, and it will take an increase of 472 to reach a billion. That's more than a 70% increase over the current prediction.

Also 4 draws in a row without a neighboring number of adjacent hit.  Very interesting indeed!  Back to looking at the numbers...

keep it going for sure it will reach a billion and let it be millions of winners thats what im talking about

The Powerball.com website just put up a simple page with the upcoming jackpot amount and the winning numbers from last draw.  I guess they're already getting overwhelmed and are trying to keep the whole site from crashing from people just wanting to know the basic info.  Glad they're being proactive.

Im I agree agree completely. i want it so bad to be me. 

Yeah I saw that and that's what I immediately though. They know this will be one for the record books. 

Couple years ago when they did the last record PB drawing they said they may do it at a special location if this reaches 1billion...so we may see a special televised event on saturday night too. 

I can easily see this reach 900 million as the jackpot...but maybe not quite the billion dollar mark yet....

Todd,,, If i win can i  get a ride in the corvette

Yes! 

Everyone is pumped up, Even Uncle Sam is getting his paper works ready. He is not going to buy any tickets but still going to get his share of 25% or 39% depending where u live. How excited will this be if there was no tax .

If it hits 1 Bill, all the Led signs are going to say 000. All the stores will have to hang up cardboard signs.

They'll probably keep it at 999

At least 5 to 10 1 million winners should come from LP 

Lol. Yes Uncle Sam is a winner in this. Guaranteed.  Rofl!!!!

In Michigan, since the game redesign, the signs (billboards) can now be flipped from "M"illion to "B"illion. I noticed it for the first time when I went back home over the holidays, and thought it was crazy that they would even think about doing that. Not so much anymore.

Please please Lord Make it so!!! :-).  I want LP to clean house on this one!

I'm curious to see what it looks like. I don't think they can add a dot between the numbers, so if it's 1.2 bill the sign will probably say 12 bill. lol

Yes its time to get paid. And if i win my family will probably  need a restraining order to get me out of the house . Because am going to hibernation until the coast is clear.

Yahoooo !!!!... Keep going baby !!!

Yeah it would be great to see any of us win something significant especially considering we make up maybe 0.0000001% of the total pool of players lol

Alright my lottery post peeps,lets do this.Good Luck.

Ran some errands, got some gas, the clerk said sales are nuts, but not for gas lol.  He said "everyone is buying PB, including me, I bought one!"

The grocery store had a line and people buying $20+ worth and more.  People were talking about what they would buy, one said "Oh I wont buy a huge house, just a modest one".  Now I thought, with this kind of money, you would buy a modest home?

Now I have been having my own dreams on what this would be like, and what I would do and I can assure my new place would not be modest lol.  This is such fun.

After what I have seen, the $$ being spent, the number of purchases and the lines with still a whole day and a half left to go, this WILL get to a BILLION.  And this is just my town I see.

Keep in mind 'modest' is in the eye of the beholder.  My 11,000 sq foot home might be considered modest to someone in a 22,000 sq ft home.  Of course anyone with an 11,000 sq ft home probably thinks of my current  fairly nice suburban home as a shanty!  

Yeah, this is definitely hitting a billion, this is insane. I'm still only playing $10 worth. 

Wowzers...guess I better start getting my financial team in place !!!  This is crazy to potentially be a part of a $1 BILLION lottery....I love history !!!

This jackpot really came out of nowhere, and in such a short time no less.

That's how it should be, no tax.  When I go to the County Fair and win a giant stuffed teddy bear I don't expect it to have missing limbs, ears, or eyes.  I expect the whole thing intact.  Lotteries should be the same....NO TAX on winnings!

You are very correct LottoLucy, I didnt consider that.  My idea of a modest home is completely different from you or the next person!

Certainly would like that chance to get a 11,000 sq. ft. shanty hahahahahaha.

Good Luck !

 Piece of cake, Livonia Michigan on tap.

Is it true that New Jersey has a special lottery tax of ~10%? It's not on usamega.com

If it does reach a billion and your wish of millions (10million) of jackpot winners comes true then it would be awesome to see them each get a $100 grand prize paid out over 30-years.....woohoo!!

Uncle Sam will get his share at 39.6% as the initial 25% is just a down payment. Must be nice to be able to pocket several hundred million and not even buying a ticket. The states that charge an income tax won't do so bad either as my state of NC will get almost $29 million if the sole ticket is purchased here

You are truly evil to speak this into existence.

I thought it was a flat %25 for gamblers tax as it says on the irs website. I never mentions that it would also count as income tax. Its says if your a professional gambler then you have to file winnings under income and not gambling winnings. I could be wrong but my financial team will fill me in on the rest. but even after 39.6% federal, 5.92% state, and 2.25% city tax. so 45.07% plus attorney and lawyer fees at $260,000,000 plus take home I am golden.

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

This is really exciting, I just hope this doesn't lead to Mega Millions going to $2 a ticket.

Without doing any research, just working from memory of winners' stories, willing to bet a ticket the vast majority---probably 80-90%---of those top 25 (and probably next 25) all-time prize amounts were won with quick picks.

No strategy, no boxing, no 'lucky numbers', just machine-generated randomness.

Wow!!! I only need 2 million out of the 800M!

Would be sweet!!

Good luck Thrifty if you indeed bought that many tickets. The few tickets that I bought will allow me to fantasize until I come back to reality Sunday morning.

  Hi All,

     First time poster, long time lurker. $800 million is just mind blowing. Strangely though, I have not seen the expected long lines at gas stations or self check terminals, in my city. Hmmmm. However, I bought a few tickets. Good luck to us all.

Sorry, I have bad news. Ellen just gave her entire studio audience today Powerball tickets. So if one of those people don't win. Ellen will! The rich only get richer! Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if one of those Kardashians win it.

It better not be a winner from out this country... Online betting that would be jacked up??

I expect a "foreign" ticket to win or at least be part of multiple winners...watch this space.

I hope its like 20 winners not just 1!

That money split 20 ways will do many families plenty good!

I dont have a ticket yet but I will buy 1 with play!

If you buy the ticket you are in.

I caved and purchased $80 tickets for myself and pitched in $10 in my pool at work. Haven't spent $ like this since Powerball went from $1 to $2. My normal purchase since the $2 change was only $2 - 4 on tickets after $200M jackpot.  I think I might wager another $10 tomorrow.

It will hit tomorrow with multiple winners, no way the government will allow the lotteries to award ONE person all of this money.

You bought all those numbers?

lol that would be really messed up but funny...lol

Wow i hope it select one in the states!

pa ny nj are good picks mr computer man!!

One winner

One ticket 

The odds are 292,201,393 .... Flipping really!!!

You go on and do that.

Please film your reaction if it's not the case.

Lol!!

Why not? The IRS will get paid 39.6% in federal income tax if the jackpot is won by a single person or many people.

I'm not worried about the irs

You're joking 45.07%? I only have to pay the 39.6%, if anyone wins let me turn in the tix under a contract by you that your lawyer will draw up. Money goes into a blind trust. Let me get to keep 50% of the 39+ mill that will go straight to uncle sam if you turn in the tix yourself. That way I get the publicity too so you don't have to deal with it. BOOM haha

Good time to slip out the backdoor unnoticed with winning the mega millions jackpot tonigt

You got that right... MM isn't exactly chump change tonight...

Wow, PB JP is rising something scary fast...

Finally saw the lines tonight... folks have the fever

This Powerball lottery is insane. I'm in. One Powerball lottery ticket please!

I bet these are all QP that is a bad way to play....

I can just see Obama or socialist Senator Bernie Sanders making a comment like "a billion dollar jackpot?  That's too much money for one person.  We're going to have to change the rules" and then claim afterwards that it's good for America.

01/08/16

It's "crap on a cracker"  if you don't win more than $20.00 on your $2.00 bet; but a whole load of dung if you hit the big jackpot.

Just think of all the new friends you will automatically acquire, not to mention long lost family members.

We got to love these jackpots that are so "pie in the sky"  that everyone gets so excited, even the Media is in on this issue!

but it's the average daily player that makes it possible by playing when the jackpot is at the lowest amount.

Good Luck to the average player.

If it goes over $1B it will truly be Looney Tunes!

 I really like that idea to have the DRAW in a special place. Thank You, LP Member who suggested it.

The odds for PA Pick-2 is 1 in 100, and it's a struggle to win $50 on that. Powerball is ~2,922,201 times more difficult.

To put it another way, the entire population of California (~39 million) could each buy a ticket, and yet still have only a 1 in 7 chance of hitting the jackpot.

While such a large purchase would likely yield some 2nd and 3rd tier winners, a smaller sub-set may not. I regularly check PA Lottery detailed results for Powerball, and there are drawings in which the top base prize (without Powerplay) won in all of Pennsylvania is $100. And I'm not talking right after reset either. Even when the jackpot is $250+ million. Don't believe it, check out the results for Dec-26th: http://www.palottery.state.pa.us/Payouts.aspx?id=54573

12/26/15
Winning Numbers: 27  40  44  59  65
Powerball: 20  Power Play: 02

0 PA winners, jackpot rolls to $300,000,000.00
0 PA players matched 5 of 5, each receiving $1,000,000.00
0 PA players matched 4 of 5 and the Powerball, each receiving $50,000.00
22 PA players matched 4 of 5, each receiving $100.00
90 PA players matched 3 of 5 and the Powerball, each receiving $100.00
1,886 PA players matched 3 of 5, each receiving $7.00
1,658 PA players matched 2 of 5 and the Powerball, each receiving $7.00
12,569 PA players matched 1 of 5 and the Powerball, each receiving $4.00
31,705 PA players matched the Powerball, each receiving $4.00

Power Play:
0 PA players matched 5 of 5 and purchased Power Play, each receiving $2,000,000.00
0 PA players matched 4 of 5, the Powerball, and purchased Power Play, each receiving $100,000.00
5 PA players matched 4 of 5 and purchased Power Play, each receiving $200.00
22 PA players matched 3 of 5, the Powerball, and purchased Power Play, each receiving $200.00
502 PA players matched 3 of 5, and purchased Power Play, each receiving $14.00
392 PA players matched 2 of 5, the Powerball, and purchased Power Play, each receiving $14.00
3,185 PA players matched 1 of 5, the Powerball, and purchased Power Play, each receiving $8.00
8,185 PA players matched the Powerball and purchased Power Play, each receiving $8.00

So while it's worth being in the game, buying a million tickets or one makes relatively little difference given the insane odds of the game. Even hitting the 2nd tier prize is insanely difficult, since the matrix change. In short, don't bet the ranch on it. There are better ways to wager heavy - payout won't be record-breaking, but neither will the losses.

Gambling winnings are subject to a flat 25% tax.  BUT, gambling winnings over $5K from sweepstakes, betting pools, and lottery are subject to income tax withholding, thus the 39.6% factor coming into play.

39.6% Withholding tax,  what's the source of your statement?

First time I'm hearing that.

Ready for the estimate to jump up again.

Thrifty managed to buy every single Powerball except for 2, 8, 9, 14 & 17.  17 was the winning Powerball in Wednesday’s 523-millioner.  So let’s see if he wins at least 4 bucks!

This is my first-ever post on LP, it’s an honor to be here!  I’ve been lurking for a few months to a year and have kept reading up on it, but finally decided to join today.  Nice to be here!

Right? Shouldn't a modest house and a truck be a 150-200k purchase? If that?

Jackpot rolling faster than Usain Bolt

Confession: I bought a 2nd ticket. Now I will have 2 in the game Saturday :-)

This has become a self-fulfilling prophesy of sorts, players have yearned for another jackpot of this magnitude ever since the record was set back in 2012.

Even I am surprised by the latest surge and the current conservative estimates put sales far higher than I anticipated.

Furthermore the probability of there being a winner, and even multiple winners, has jumped significantly from the first estimates.

If there is no winner in this draw then I am quite certain there will be in the next. And if it rolls we will hit $1 billion for sure.

Haven't seen this much excitement in the lottery in years. Too bad this can't happen more often

History in the making... Gotta get in the game'

I never post this much... Frigg'n Chatty Cathy ... Time to sign out!

Can't help it....

Is this going to be a political thread now, where people can talk about stupid things conservatives do, too?

Yeah...Powerball is loving this...first they double the price to play from 1$ to 2$ a ticket..then they add a bunch more numbers to make as many combinations in the set to almost cover...every man, woman and child in the U.S....then they tamper with the draws by throwing away all those SO CALLED PRETEST DRAWS...so yeah I would say this Jackpot is where it is because of that...

They want all those REGULAR people that dont know anything about how number fields work to buy as many of those sorry QUICK PICS as they can  until a lucky person or persons get struck by Lightening sorta speak and have the right ticket...

Can you imagine or even guess how much money POWERBALL has taken in just on this Jackpot run alone...the amount is probably 3-5 BILLION in sales

AND THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN THIS IS...I DONT EVEN GET TO PLAY....I DONT EVEN GET TO BUY ONE TICKET...LOL

 Who wants to be listed as the first winner of 2016 on other websites? You will be as close to immortal as anyone can be. Every time when the jackpot grows to this level your name will be remembered and talked about.

 I am ready how about you?

 Especially if you are the only winner.

Yes, Yes,  Immortality, Fame.  Let's see what else?

An $800M advertised jackpot means they're predicting sales of 270 million tickets. At that level, there's about a 40% chance that no one wins. A single winner and a two-way split are about equally likely, around 25% each. There's an 8% chance of a three-way split, and a 2% chance of four-way or more.

Can remain anonymous here so that wouldn't be of concern for me. 

Welcome to the LP family!

Yes, and no. I, for one, play my own random numbers. I simulated lottery drawings with numbered scraps of paper and big zip lock bags.

I haven't jumped in the game .....yet. I am now on home time, but still in the Atlanta area. I want to load up on Florida Lotto. It's at 29 million. I'm going to make a special trip across the GA/FL state line. Then, I'll make my way back to upstate SC to load up on Mega and Powerball. I'm not going all out. I'm going to play my usual 10 lines of each but load up on draws. Good luck every one!

Welcome to Lottery Post, Soviet.

You picked a great time for your post!

Good Luck if you are a owner of PB ticket(s) 

The PB site says 496million cash sum....so I assume that is the sales number? 496millon dollars on hand so to speak? 

Also sorry to hear you don't get to play. Do you work for the MUSL?

Times like these are why I'm glad I don't work for the lottery...or a family member...imagine you are not allowed to buy ticket!!!

Well, I just thought that 496, was the 800 minus the Federal 25%.

Maybe, minus some other factors too.  But 496 is basically liquid cash, if I understand correctly.

Liquid cash, ready for you to spend anywhere.

I was disheartened to learn that there is some IRS thing, about 39% income tax?   Not sure.  Yes, I am horrified.

Just went up to Tom Thumb to buy tics for the work pool. There was a guy ahead of me buying PB tics and I could see he bought 10 lines. He paid his money but just stood there for a few seconds, finally asked the clerk "are they $2 each?". Clerk says yes. Guy says "I didn't realize that".

Just reinforces that fact that there are people that never play the lottery coming out of the woodwork to get in on the action.

$496M is what they'll pay to get the $800M 30-year annuity. If you take the cash option they'll take out the 25% for the feds and whatever your state requires, meaning the actual payment you receive will be $372M or less (and you'll still owe more taxes on that beyond what was withheld, so don't spend it all at once.)

Folks falling into the lottery fever trap! The jackpot amount is irrelevant unless you are the holder of the winning ticket. Not trying to down the excitement but that is the truth.  I can't personally buy a ticket so I asked my mother and brother to each buy me a $2 play. So if those are not winners, I just have to pay back $4. Meanwhile, I socked $10,000 into an account earning 10 percent interest per quarter (you have to be a military member serving in a hazardous duty zone). I can live with not ever hitting the jackpot but I can't live getting caught up in nonsensical lottery fever!

"Now I thought, with this kind of money, you would buy a modest home?"

Some winners buy more house than they need, and some buy more swords than they need. The winner can spend the money as they see fit and nobody will really care. Of course a lot of people are going to offer opinions about it, anyway.

But, I play in a 0% lotto-tax state.  I don't live there, but will move there promptly, if the unlikely happens.
(or should I say, "I'll be stretchered to that state. . . ".)

So, that's where my confusion about the additional tax remains.

Okay people get confused on the different numbers so here's how I understand. 

The big jackpot advertised is only an estimate of what the total would be if you took the 30yr payments. 

So they take the cash sum, smaller number, and extrapolate total sum if you take 30yrs. 

They only have 496mil to give out immediately. If you choose lump sum then they will give you 496mil...now you know that the highest income tax bracket is 39.6%, which you will obviously be in if you win 496million...the IRS will know and lotto winnings are taxed in that ordinary income amount. 

So you take 39.6% off of the cash value (496mil) and then take off any state taxes...then the rest is take home pay. 

So in the end a very rough easy way is 50% of the cash value is an estimated take home pay...so about 250 mil take home if you do lump sum option

The 25% number is what the feds will automatically withhold before you even get the money...this is lotto rules. PLUS you will pay the difference to reach the proper 39.6% tax brakcet since lotto wins are taxed as ordinary income. 

So it will be more than 25% taken, 39.6, and then add in state tax and that is what you will be left over with

I still wouldn't have enough to buy the Pittsburgh Steelers but I could be sitting pretty in the Heinz Field parking lot with my custom made Million Dollar Motorhome!!    Good luck Players!!  I would love to see an LP Member win!

Don't make me part of your reply, if it is going to be bad. Please I spent $6 on powerball. You can go somewhere else and be a Debbie downer

Illinois has the biggest HATERS!!!!

Wusp lp peeps. Havnt posted in a while.anyone hear from ridge runner latley. His was a blast.

In the words of Chris Berman... "C'mon mann"

OldSchoolPa...You're not in the least bit feeling the fever?

You must have a dart in ur neck.... History in the making!

I still like u Mann... But ur crazy

Yeah most NFL teams are worth about a billion dollars and very very few opportunies come up to even buy one even if you have enough money. Usually you need a group of super rich people getting together to buy a team. 

But definitely...for me I'll get season tickets to the Chiefs and awesome RV for tailgate at Arrowhead...best stadium in the NFL!!!!

There's no escape from the Fed IRS, they will get their cut (40%) no matter where you move.  Might work with the state tax, but be sure you have a good tax lawer before you bank on it.

One of my co-workers started a Pool for Powerball, for tomorrow, lol, she doesnt' even know how to play, or how to fill out the play slips properly, lmaooooooooooooooooo

So, I helped her.

She charged everyone $6.00?  lmaoooooooooooooo

We got, $45.00  Quick pick with Powerplay.

We got, $80.00 Quick pick.

I sure hope we win something, lmaoooooooooooooooooo.

Good luck.

P.S. I rarely do pools.

I think federal taxes for that high of an income bracket is 39.6% not 25%.

Dang....I'd be scared of letting someone who doesn't know how to play PB to lead a lotto pool....make sure she actually buys the right tickets....lol

This is correct. 

People get confused about 25% is because...with a lotto win the MUSL will automatically withhold 25% upfront (even before you get the amount to you) and then later you have to pay up the difference to get to 39.6%. (minus any donations, charities, etc.)

I will buy more house than I need, just because the house comes with the location and lot/setting I want. No one builds a bungalow on the type of lot I want.  About $2 million for the house I want. Add a small SUV and a BMW sedan and I'm set. 

($2 buys a lot of big dream power)

Okay 2mil to build your own home to your dream/liking is not bad. I can see that with a 800M jackpot win. 

I usually shake my head whenever I see ppl posting these HUGE 10mil+ mansions....ok yeah they are fun to look at behind a computer screen but will take tons of time/effort/money to upkeep. And you will barely use all that space. 

Personally I'm even ok with a 500k-900k nice home here in my home town. Get a few nice cars (not too crazy), nice stuff inside the home definitely, a travel camper/trailer and a truck to pull it...see all over US, fly 1st class and do all kinds of traveling!

How come the lottery doesn't withhold the 39.6% up front.  That's good but would like to understand why they don't do it?

There is a sucker born every day. These big jackpots are doing exactly what they were designed to do: make the lottery money and make the states money for allowing this scam to happen. Why do you think all states allow both mega and powerball now? They were jealous other states were making millions so they had to get a piece of the action. Same as casinos being built everwhere. $2 a ticket for bigger pots? They can do whatever the want...bet you will pay them $3 a ticket in a few years...nobody cares about odds...let's make it 100 balls and start the jackpot at $100 million at $5 a ticket. I gave up on this years ago. I mean look at the trends. Now that powerball set the record mega millions will change trying to beat it. The players are really losing out in this pointless race for billion dollar jackpots.

BENMAS, I put both my hands on the chopping block that you bought a Powerball ticket or two for this run.

Out of curiosity:  Have any of the past mega jackpot winning tickets also included the multiplier feature? (eg: $2 powerball w/$1 power-up; $1 mega millions w/$1 megaplier)?  I know that the jackpot is not multiplied, but wondered if this was ever the case. 

I always purchase the multiplier feature so want to know if I'm cancelling myself out by doing this when the jackpots get this big.

Does anyone know the answer to this question? 

Thanks.

Lets play a game. Who wants to be a millionaire or should i say Billionaire . We wait and see tomorrow. Good luck everyone

Ticket sales thru last Saturdays drawing were just a little over 1 billion dollars. This does not include power play sales as they do not factor into the JP amount. The last 3 draws there has been 542 million in ticket sales which is more then the first 15 draws added up to

Does anyone know how many combinations have been sold already? From the massive bumps in the jackpot I'm assuming we're at least past the 50% point by now.

The fact they dont withhold the money is a good thing. The winner could invest all of it and that extra 14.6% could be used to make even more money in that first year before you give the IRS the rest of their cut.

I've heard ~64% but that was hours ago

WHO WANTS TO BUY ME A TICKET...JUST ONE TICKET AND I WILL SPLIT 50/50 WITH YOU BUT YOU HAVE TO SCAN IT AND SEND IT TO ME IN EMAIL....

ANY TAKERS???

CV is actually higher % than the advertised prize for the last drawing.

$306M/$500M = 61.20%

$496M/$800M = 62.00%

You can verify this by examining the estimation documents that many of the states publish....the interest factor has actually decreased, which means the annuity is smaller in proportion to the lump sum prize. Had it stayed the same the annuity would be about $811M

Still wouldn't work, I believe you have to live in a state for at least 1 year to claim residency and the ticket has to be claimed within a year not to mention you would have to have been living in that state before the ticket was bought so you are probably screwed, you will be paying the taxes. 

Yes, you're right, I stand corrected

Depending on your deductions you can def. cut that 39.6 % rate, i.e. setting up a large charitable foundation for donations reducing your taxable income and the net effective tax rate.  Then they would owe you a refund.  Winners of the lower $ prizes often get refunds even at the 25% withholding depends on your personal tax situation

If that was the case I'm sure we'd have seen another big bump in the advertised jackpot. 64% coverage would mean that they've already sold about 300 million tickets, which should put the jackpot at $850 million as of now. That would be an increase of about 329 with just two days of sales, and most of Saturday still to go.

I don't know for sure, but I'm under the impression that sales tend to be heavier as it gets closer to the drawing. Even if that's not true, it's got to be a fairly safe bet that Saturday's sales will account for at least 25% of sales. That would add another 110 million tickets, and increase the jackpot by about another $120 million, pushing it to about 970. Saturday having 1/3 of sales would be enough to easily push it past a billion.

I'll *guess* that 64% might be a current estimate of coverage once sales are closed. That would mean that sometime tomorrow we'll see the advertising bump to something close to 850.

Do you think that you'd have to live in a state for a year before they want you to start paying the state income tax?

The rules vary from state to state, but in general if you legitimately, and permanently, move out of one state and into another you become a resident of the new state for tax purposes. If the state you used to live in thinks they can collect a lot of income tax from you they may argue that you haven't really moved and are still a resident of that state.  Even if they agree that it was a legitimate move you may owe income tax as a part-year resident. That would mean there's probably no need to rush a move if you win towards the end of the year. OTOH, if you win $500 million in cash 9 days into the year you might want to be starting your move on the 10th. If you do move you need to really move, That means cutting all ties to the old state and establishing ties to the new state. Get a new drivers license and register your car(s) in the new state, making sure to surrender your plates and get a receipt in the old state. Register to vote. Enrol your kids in school. Sign a lease or buy a house.

Moving permanently doesn't mean you need to stay in the new state forever, but moving back to your old state any time in the first several years would probably be a serious risk. Moving quickly to the state where you bought a ticket and then moving to a 3rd state the next calendar year might also be a bad idea. In my case, I could potentially buy a ticket in PA, where (currently) there's no tax on PA lottery winnings. If I'm a NY resident NY would stand to collect about $44 million in state tax, so I'm pretty sure they'd devote some effort to trying to establish that I hadn't really moved out of NY and owed them the money. I certainly wouldn't want them to have any evidence beyond the tax advantages of living in a different state as an argument that I'm still a NY resident for tax purposes.

Okay, thanks. That's about what I'd expect.

Spoke to a cashier at my supermarket today and she told me she was scheduled to have tomorrow off but they asked her to come in so they could have one person dedicated to doing lottery tickets and nothing else. Even if we're still at 64% there's going to be a mad rush tomorrow, and all those people who need to drive to other states to buy tickets will also make their trips tomorrow. It's going to be highly unlikely it will rollover again. All that's left is to see another bump. 

Mega Millions got reset, so there will be nothing holding people back from spending on this jackpot. Two resets in one weekend is going to suck after all this hype. Real lottery fatigue after this.

I got the same from our local clerks....dedicated lottery lines....meh...I got my 5....if i's my turn, so be it!

Let's make this very simple. Treat the winning ticket like it is a paycheck. The day the ticket is drawn is effectively the day you received your paycheck. You can move to another state, do whatever you want but you still resided in the taxable state and were paid in the taxable state when you lived there and they will get taxes no matter what tax evasion scheme you concoct in your head. 

Reading all this tax things....ist would be fun if someone eins via thelotter again. Because of the usual tax treaties in place he will receive the cash value even federal tax free as far he file for a tax# before collecting the win ...

In last night's drawing, if you played Megaplier and had the first five #'s you would have had $5 million since the Megaplier was five.

In the U.S. of A, your tax ID # is your social security number.  The IRS is right there with both hands out before you get your moola!

Auf Wiedersehen  (Mein  Deutsch is nicht so gut; wanted to say until we hear from you again!!)

Chuckle for the morning, WLKY (Louisville, KY) TV station reporters yakking away.  One of the reporters says what would you do with the EIGHT million dollar Powerball Jackpot?  The other two didn't correct her.  Bet she doesn't play...lol

So Lucky New York won Mega Millions; MD and TX each with $1 million each.  This win should fire up Powerball sales even more, IMHO>

I will wonder if the situation differs between Las Vegas wins and a lottery win. 

Just read e.g. this copied from another website:

Exemption for Europeans and other Non-US citizens

Generally if a foreign citizen wins a jackpot, 30% of it will be withheld and paid to the IRS. However the US does have treaties with some foreign countries whereby gambling income is not taxable by the United States Government. These countries include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Russia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

In the event of a large win, in order to receive a hand pay from the casino that is tax free and not subject to a withholding fee, citizens of these countries will be required to obtain an ITIN-Number. In general the more reputable Las Vegas casinos will acquire this number on your behalf once you have filled in a few forms. Once you have this number you will be able to walk into any casino with your passport, play and if you win claim your tax free payouts.

Some of the countries mentioned above will however require that taxation on winnings be paid directly to their own governments' tax authorities when you return home, while others do not as gambling winnings are exempt from taxes.

In places like Switzerland, canton Zurich collects 35% of their citizens winnings should they be made aware of this income (which is more than the US's 30% withholding tax) so Swiss travellers should always keep their wins private if they do not want to be liable for the taxes.

While most of us never think about taxes at all when enjoying gambling in Las Vegas it is definitely worth being aware of the tax processes and implications involved should you be fortunate enough to experience a large win. Happy Gambling!

Therefore, all we Need is a ITIN number before collecting.

Interesting, Sweden is also one of those countries. So I would be able to cash in more than average Joe in US if (when) I win?

Waiting for the bump to $900 million today.

That would be nice.

Yes, I agree, $900 million dollars sounds nice.  Still about 14 hours, depending on your state, to play Powerball.  Plenty of time to plunk down some more money.

Nope....

IKR that would be insane 

Know why most  big prize winners end up broke?

They take the cash option instead of the annuity over 20 years and spend it, or give it away, as fast as they get it .

The patient few big prize winners, who select the annuity option, get the full amount spread over time and live a more sane life style, sometimes?

In any case, hope tonight's power ball game has more than one winner.

With a jackpot this big , Will " they"  be flying into U.S.A. to play ?

Becoming a billionaire in the event this jackpot reaches the billion mark is nothing but a farce the media or uninformed individual would like someone to believe. To become a "billionaire" via the lottery one would have to be the sole winner of a jackpot that has an annuity value in excess of $3 billion with a cash value close to $2billion.

I just came home from the circleK, hardly any  indication that anything special is going on,

no lines, just 2 other people buying tix.

The only thing i noticed was a guy had his $ in hand and the clerk just said

" How many ?

 Didn't even have to say what he was there for.

Maybe he's a regular ?

Know why most big prize winners actually end up growing broke? Because they think they know how to handle a jackpot when they haven't a clue. 

1st, the annuity is 30 payments over 29 years. Not 20.

2nd, the annuity is back weighted so you receive the larger chunk of your money in the last decade. That's money you have no access to and isn't being invested. 

3rd and a big point to keep in mind, the annuity is a sitting duck for additional taxes. A few years ago, they were paying ~35% on those annuity payments. Now it's almost 40%. An additional 5% in taxes just like that. Those who won money prior to the last rate hike have seen an even bigger chunk being wiped out by taxes than they ever saw coming. 

That's just on a federal level. States can and have passed laws geared towards increasing revenue by taxing lottery winnings. One state even backdated a new lottery tax law so that winnings got hit twice in one year. Those who won and had chosen the CV option prior to the backdate had no new taxes to pay. Annuity takers had to give, and will continue to give those extra taxes to the state 

4th, annuity winners are no LESS likely to go broke than those who take the CV. That old wives of annuity winners doing better financially is a fallacy. There have been story after story of annuity winners having to file for bankruptcy. 

If you focus on the money left on the table by taking the CV over annuity instead of looking at the big picture, you're shooting yourself in the foot.

Gleno,

Along with what Teddi said, how about those who chose the annuity and wind up selling it to one of those 'need cash now' companies?

Also, someone here at LP used to have a signature, "You can always buy a better annuity".

Well I'm still going to take that 2 hour drive to get some tickets. Have to be in it to win it!

Many people donate a big chunk of their winnings to a charity.  The IRS would end up owing them money if the lottery took the full amount up front, and nobody wants the feds to have the benefit of their money until the next tax day.  I'd rather have it to invest for myself.

Im hoping for one ticket, max two ticket winners. At being split in two each would have an annuity at $400,000,000 plus $248,000,000 for cash option puts you at #10 for annuity and #8 for cash option if you count it as jackpots. Both players would would be mad it got split but realize they are still in top 10 for both is still awesome.

single winnner has me like  and want it to be me

If it hits $1 billion, I'm going to buy 1 annuity ticket just to have that number on the bottom.

I would love to have a physical copy, but alas.

I hope some people put none-winning tickets on ebay, I kinda cióllect tickets from all places. Shanghai, Hong Kong, Euromilliions, different states. 

So in texas when you have to pick cash or annuity when you buy you ticket it either prints the annuity or the cash value on the ticket. In ohio even if it changes to 1 billion for tonight it will only print that the jackpot is $700 million and not all of the raises before draw

Idaho has no JP amount printed on the ticket.  I've never paid attention if they've done it previously, but none on mine for this draw.

I could swear when I drive up to Cincy from Louie that your tickets do not say jackpots on them, but I never paid that much attention.  At least Ohio has anonymous winning.  In New Jersey you have to tell them annuity or cash option when you purchase your tickets.  In KY they USE TO  do that and thankfully got rid of it.  When I emailed the NJ lottery about that coming back from Atlantic City they had a robo reply---thank you for your opinion.

Jackpot just raised to $900 MILLION.  News story coming soon.

Darn, how'd I miss that?  Was just on their website.  It will go to a Billion Dollars no doubt.

If nobody wins it will start at $1.3 billion

Thats music to my ears todd. One or two winners max

Yea can claim anonymously and can pick either once i got to claim. Definitely a big plus in both if/when i ever do win. I want the money not the fame

Over $300 million after taxes, I'll take it!

Wow ....It just jumped up to 900 Million

Cash value is now $558 Million. I tried to put that in perspective and realized that this cash value is almost as large as Gloria's annuity value.

Talk about a mind-blowing realization. 

I'd all but given up hope that we'd see anything go past the $700 million range, guess Powerball finally found the sweet spot. The right ticket price with the right odds. I hope MM doesn't raise its price now.

558-taxes = around half that.

I mistyped with the withholding comment.  39.6% is the income tax rate for the following;

Single filer $415,051 or more

Married filing jointly/qualified widow or widower $466,951 or more

Married filing separately $233,476 or more

Head of household $441,001 or more.

Federal withholding will be 25% (with exceptions that are not common to most us citizens).

I'd have agreed with you a year or two ago, but having looked into it a bit more I seriously doubt it.

Even the paycheck analogy doesn't really work, because getting a paycheck and actually being paid aren't the same thing. In theory you could usually run straight to the bank and cash the check just a few minutes after receiving it, but only if the check is good. If it bounces then the date on the check means nothing, because you need constructive receipt, and a bad check is worth $0.00.

Think of a lottery ticket as a post dated check. You can run to the lottery office immediately, but you can't possibly get the money in less than a week or more. Odds are the state you're moving out of won't transfer the money immediately, so you might be  a resident of the new state before the money gets there.

See this post for more detailed info: https://www.lotterypost.com/news/297466/4411670

Did you only look at the temporary landing page, or click through to the regular home page? The people at MUSL must have forgotten that they put the landing page up, because it still says 800.

Paying about 53% is probably the worst case scenario. Yeah, it's close to half, but for a single winner that extra 3% is a few million more than the net from the starting jackpot.

The United States does not have any 0% lotto tax states.  There are states that do not impose a state tax on lottery winnings, however all states are subject to federal taxes.  Also, you might research about moving somewhere that doesn't impose a state tax.  You must have established residency prior to the win to avoid paying state tax on that initial claim.  However, if taking an annuity, after the first year, such a move may be beneficial.  It is highly recommended a tax consultant, financial adviser, and battery of other professionals be consulted before claiming a win, especially the current jackpot.

Thank thank you!  I was saying the same thing the moment I read something stating " could we see the first billion dollar jackpot winner?

Old School PA

How about all the hype from the media. Like silly kids joking about their lottery pool. If they won would they still be reporting the "news" ?

By the errors some of them make reporting about the lottery, you can tell they're clueless about playing/winning.

Wow Nope PA /NY winner not me!!!

All Member States Powerball Payout 2016-01-09
Match Prize Amount # of Winners Where
5 of 5 + Powerball(Jackpot) $800,000,000.00 0
5 of 5 $1,000,000.00 25 Arizona-2
California-6
Connecticut-1
Florida-1
Georgia-1
Iowa-1
Massachusetts-1
Maryland-1
Michigan-3
New York-3
Ohio-2
Pennsylvania-1
Texas-1
Virginia-1
4 of 5 + Powerball $50,000.00 396
4 of 5 $100.00 10,323
3 of 5 + Powerball $100.00 27,359
3 of 5 $7.00 666,711
2 of 5 + Powerball $7.00 570,222
1 of 5 + Powerball $4.00 4,378,332
Powerball Only $4.00 10,579,429
With Power Play
Match Prize Amount # of Winners Where
5 of 5 $2,000,000.00 3 Connecticut-1
Texas-2
4 of 5 + Powerball $150,000.00 55
4 of 5 $300.00 1,231
3 of 5 + Powerball $300.00 3,518
3 of 5 $21.00 83,944
2 of 5 + Powerball $21.00 73,318
1 of 5 + Powerball $12.00 561,212
Powerball Only

$8 for three ok im cool with that!!!

Ron 5995

I know!! Totally insane!!!

Yeah many winners!!! I won all of $8.

in ny $0 in nj and $0 in pa!!!

Have anyone notice the payouts on $50k prizes!!! Dam must be nice!!!