Tag: Powerball

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million, and there isn’t much a player can do to increase those chances, according to one expert. 

Sure, buying multiple tickets at once does increase a player’s odds slightly, but that strategy also requires spending more upfront while running the risk of having to split the payout with another winner, Harvard University statistician Mark Glickman told CBS News.

“Even if you’re buying 50 tickets, the likelihood is that you’re almost certain to still lose and not win the jackpot,” Glickman said. “In fact, the chance at winning even $4 by playing is still pretty small.”

The Powerball jackpot grew to an estimated $1.6 billion Friday, officials announced. If the estimated figure holds after Saturday night’s drawing and someone wins the grand prize, it would set a new record for the largest lottery prize ever.

A winner has the option of receiving the prize as an annuity spread over 29 years or as a lump-sum payment of $782.4 million, officials said.

The jackpot has eluded players since Aug. 3, the last time anyone matched all five winning numbers and the Powerball. The winning numbers in Wednesday night’s drawing were 2, 11, 22, 35, 60 with a Powerball of 23.

Do “lucky” numbers work?

Of course, the likelihood of one person winning it all is vanishingly small. Statistically speaking, a Powerball player has a far better chance of being attacked by a grizzly bear at Yellowstone National Park — about 1 in 2.7 million, according to the National Park Service — or of finding a blue lobster in the ocean (1 in 2 million).

Massive lottery jackpots have become more common in recent years as lottery officials adjust game rules and ticket prices to pump up the top prizes. The most recent tweak came in August when Powerball officials added an additional drawing day — going from two drawings a week to three — in an effort to boost prizes and lottery ticket sales.

Glickman said the best number-picking strategy is to have no strategy at all. A computer randomly generates the winning digits, so he suggests avoiding techniques such as picking numbers tied to a birthday or anniversary. It’s better to use a random ticket number generator — also known as quick picks — because those machines better match what the Powerball might do, Glickman said. 

“Really the best thing you can do is be level-headed about it [and] not buy too many tickets because you’re throwing away your money,” he said. “The key is to pick your picks at random because that will lower your chances of splitting the money with other people.” 

The winning numbers for Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing were 02, 11, 22, 35, 60 and a Powerball of 23. It was not immediately clear if there were any winning tickets.     

The fourth-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history could soar to the largest ever if no one wins the top prize in Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing. The jackpot currently sits at $1.2 billion. 

It has been 38 consecutive draws without a jackpot winner since the last person won the big prize on Aug. 3.

The jackpot grows after every drawing without a winner and now is approaching the record of $1.586 billion won by three Powerball players in 2016. The second– and third-largest prizes were hit by players of the Mega Millions lottery game.

“I think it would be close to being a record if not a record,” said Drew Svitko, the Pennsylvania Lottery’s executive director. “The record of $1.586 billion that we had back in 2016 is within reach, but it really depends on a couple factors.”

The first factor is the number of tickets sold, and they are flying out of lottery machines throughout the country.

For the Monday night drawing, there were 131.6 million Powerball plays sold, said Anna Domoto, a spokeswoman for the Multi-State Lottery Association, which oversees the game. That amounted to 36.3% of all possible number combinations being covered, as millions of players picked the same numbers.

That’s a lot, but considering the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, that means about 186 million number combinations weren’t covered, which is why no one won the grand prize.

Although the focus of the game is on the $1.2 billion prize — that is the amount for an annuity, doled out over 29 annual payments — nearly all winners choose a cash prize, which would be $596.7 million.

Still, the advertised prize is based on the annuity, and that’s where the second factor in determining the jackpot comes in as higher interest rates cause annuities to grow more quickly. Put another way, the $596.7 million in cash is funneled into investments that will eventually pay out $1.2 billion, and those investments grow faster as interest rates rise.

“We use investments to fund the annuity to pay that prize, so the investments rely on interest and the degree to which interest rates effect the value of those investments also effect that jackpot,” Svitko said.

For some players, it’s not about the grand prize.

“What’s so fun about it?” Jeff Bennett asked Monday. “It’s the potential for winning, not that you win. It’s the potential — you’re buying hope.”

But even with the massive jackpot, not everyone has caught Powerball fever.

“There’s no use,” a man named Diego said. “I mean, you’ve got a better chance of getting struck by lightning than winning that lotto.”