$HALF-BILLION! Powerball raised again on monster sales

Feb 11, 2015, 11:30 am (252 comments)

Powerball

By Todd Northrop

Less than 24 hours after lottery officials were forced to raise the Wednesday Powerball jackpot estimate, they have done it again — now to $500 million.

The current jackpot is the third-largest in Powerball history and the fifth-largest jackpot of any lottery game in U.S. history.

It is only the fifth time in history that lottery players have been able to play for a half-billion dollars.  It could all go to one person.

The new estimated lump-sum cash value of the jackpot is $337.8 million.

Early Sunday morning, around 5:25 am Eastern Time, USA Mega announced the new record Powerball jackpot of $450 million after nobody won in the Saturday evening drawing. Then, on Tuesday afternoon lottery officials raised the jackpot estimate to $485 million on bigger-than-expected sales.

Now, less than 24 hours later, the jackpot estimate for Wednesday's Powerball drawing has been raised yet again to $500 million, with a lump-sum cash option of $337.8 million.

That's an increase of $105.5 million from the Wednesday jackpot of $394.5 million. And yet, the jackpot will probably be even higher by the time the drawing occurs at 10:59 pm Eastern Time (7:59 pm Pacific Time) tonight.

Surely, tickets are being sold at such a rapid pace that many of the possible number combinations are being covered — multiple times for some combinations — but one still has to ask: what if just one person wins $337.8 million in cash? It's hard for most people to even picture a number that large, let alone manage that much cash.

Perhaps more interesting to imagine is, what if nobody wins Wednesday?

Lottery players seeking to check the winning numbers Wednesday night are urged to use USA Mega (www.usamega.com). State lottery Web sites are normally brought to a standstill during busy periods, while USA Mega normally remains responsive.

Powerball drawing results will be posted immediately after the 10:59 pm drawing at USA Mega. The number of winners and new jackpot will be announced after all participating Powerball states have reported their data, which normally occurs within a couple of hours after the drawing.

Tickets will remain on sale typically until 10:45 pm Eastern Time on Saturday, although players should check with a lottery retailer in their state for the exact sales cutoff time. Players are advised not to wait until the last minute.

The odds of winning the jackpot are approximately 1 in 175 million. The odds of winning any of the Powerball prizes are approximately 1 in 32.

Lottery players can see an after-tax analysis of the current Powerball jackpot by visiting USA Mega's Jackpot Analysis page.

Powerball features nine different prize levels, ranging from $4 all the way up to the jackpot. Players can win even if they just match one number — the Powerball number.

States also offer the Power Play option for an extra dollar per ticket purchased. The Power Play multiplies any non-jackpot prizes won by a fixed amount, depending on the prize level won.

Players who purchase the Power Play and win second prize will automatically have their prize increased by 2x to $2 million.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

WWWBUKTN

MINE

ttech10's avatarttech10

Just over 253,000,000 dollar bills after tax, that's a lot of shoe boxes to fill.

I'd have no problem picking 4 other family members to share the ticket with at this amount (heck, even if there were another winning ticket).

Original Bey's avatarOriginal Bey

I love Todd's choice of words. Lottery officials were FORCED - lol. 

 

Keep rolling baby!Banana

delS

I have my vision and my plan for this money.

lejardin's avatarlejardin

Holy Moly.  Have two tickets ready.  All it takes is one.  Good luck everyone.

THRIFTY's avatarTHRIFTY

12 26 33 50 55 /19

16 22 34 41 57 /24

lottolaughs's avatarlottolaughs

Well, we knew this was coming. Found a shiny new penny heads up in a store parking lot yesterday so had to buy some PB tickets. First time for me as I usually dont bother with pick 6 games. You never know,lol.

OldSchoolPa's avatarOldSchoolPa

This is not news. It is nothing more than a ploy to get a lot of people spun up over nothing. Only Uncle Sam, the eventual winning ticket holder(s), and their advisors care about the jackpot amount. I play the same whether it is $40 million or $500 million. I just give myself a chance every drawing.

OldSchoolPa's avatarOldSchoolPa

Quote: Originally posted by THRIFTY on Feb 11, 2015

12 26 33 50 55 /19

16 22 34 41 57 /24

1, 3, 7, 9, 38, 1

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

 

fat chance in hell numbers 

Kee12's avatarKee12

Massive head-spinning sum there. I'd love to win just like everyone playing Big Smile

powerlot

Hi guys, can someone who is watching the results of the powerball live on tv can post the numbers on my facebook page ?

Original Bey's avatarOriginal Bey

Quote: Originally posted by powerlot on Feb 11, 2015

Hi guys, can someone who is watching the results of the powerball live on tv can post the numbers on my facebook page ?

USA Mega - the sister website to Lottery Post is your best option for getting the results very quickly

ttech10's avatarttech10

Quote: Originally posted by OldSchoolPa on Feb 11, 2015

1, 3, 7, 9, 38, 1

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

 

fat chance in hell numbers 

As is written elsewhere on these forums, the numbers on the balls are meaningless to which get sucked up. 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 are just as possible as the previous winning numbers.

But yea, news sites would crash and social sites would burn with the attention those numbers would bring if they ended up being drawn.

powerlot

I mean im in Europe and I will not stay awake till 5am for the results that is why i am looking for someone to post the results live on my facebook page.

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