DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Millions of lottery players across the country will try their luck again on Monday night to compete for the estimated $1.9 billion Powerball jackpot. This dwarfs all previous prizes by hundreds of millions of dollars.
Jackpot nearly $400 million larger than previous record It’s a jackpot and it keeps growing until someone wins it. In the past he has only had four jackpots above $1 billion, but none come close to his current prize. The current prize money he started on August 6 was $20 million and is bigger than ever in his three winless months.
Winners who opted for a lump sum will receive an estimated $929.1 million, while winners who opted for an annuity will receive $1.9 billion annually over 29 years.
Big prizes are attracting more and more people to drop $2 on Powerball tickets, but the game’s extraordinarily long odds of 1 in 292.2 million mean that the next draw will go through without winning the big prize. means likely. That boosts Wednesday’s draw jackpot to over $2 billion for him.
Why are there no winners?
Someone who spent $2 on a Powerball ticket might wonder if something is wrong when 40 draws go through without a jackpot winner, but this is how the game is designed. 1 in 292 million chance, which means no one is likely to win any prizes until the growing jackpot attracts more players. It means you can raise a lot of money. Here are the points for the state lottery. Still, it’s been a very long time without a jackpot, and without a winner on Monday night, a new record would have been reached.
A lot of people must be playing right now, right?
yes and no. Now that the jackpot has reached nearly his $2 billion, even more people are buying tickets. Evidence from the fact that when the jackpot opened at $20 million in the summer, the player only bought enough tickets to cover less than 10% of the 292.2 million possible number combinations. is. He hit 62% in Saturday night’s draw, with millions playing. But that percentage is still lower than his 88.6% coverage achieved with the previous record-breaking jackpot. If 38% of the possible number combinations are not covered, there is a good chance that there will be no winners.
Players can choose their own numbers, but the overwhelming majority have machines pick numbers at random.
That’s not the case for George Pagen of Brooklyn, New York, who always picks his own number.
“You can’t let a machine choose you,” he said. “I have numbers in my head and I am going to win.
Will the final winner really get the $1.9 billion?
I feel sorry for the poor Powerball winner because nothing close to $1.9 billion will be seen by lucky ticket holders. It’s just a matter of how little.
First, its $1.9 billion prize is for winners who choose to be paid out by annuity., which has been issuing checks at a rate of 5% each year for 29 years. However, few winners receive an annuity, opting for cash instead. In Monday night’s lottery, he won $929.1 million, less than half his pension prize.
Given the difference between the two award options, Daniel Law of Brooklyn, N.Y. said he would consult a tax attorney if he won.
“We’ll figure out which one is the better deal,” Law said as he bought tickets at the liquor store. “Pensions may be good because they stop us from spending, but it’s pretty hard to spend $2 billion all at once.”
Larry Evans, who was buying Powerball tickets in Chicago, agreed he needed to hire a “team of people” to handle his finances. said, “I can afford to pay the team, so it doesn’t make any difference.”
However, while the winners are paid, there is more federal tax, which reduces payouts by more than a third, and many states tax lottery winnings, which eats into your winnings as well.
The gap between annuities and prizes has widened recently as inflation has pushed interest rates higher. This means that more money can be invested in annuities.
Will buying more tickets increase my odds of winning?
yes. However, it does not significantly improve the odds of winning. Think of it this way. Buy 1 ticket and you have a 1 in 292.2 million chance of winning the jackpot. If you spend $10 on 5 number combinations, your chances are high, but even 5 in 292.2 million will almost certainly not hit the jackpot. Same goes for spending $100. According to lottery officials, the average player buys either he two tickets or he buys three tickets. That means you’re pouring money into your dreams, with little chance of being rewarded in a rich reality.
Where is Powerball played?
Powerball is played in 45 statesWashington DC, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
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Associated Press reporter Julie Walker, who lives in New York, contributed to this story.
