Powerball jackpot up to $500M for tonight’s drawing

No one has hit the Powerball jackpot since November 2015, meaning Wednesday’s $500 million jackpot is the largest in almost a year-and the fourth largest jackpot in Powerball history.

Powerball has announced there were no winning jackpot tickets sold for its $500 million drawing on Wednesday. Players have a 1 in 292,201,338 chance of winning the grand prize, according to the Ohio Lottery.

There was a steady stream of people buying tickets all day Wednesday at Molina’s on North Alamo Street and Brooklyn Avenue.

The biggest jackpot to date was the Mega Millions prize won in 2012 worth $656 million. The record jackpot for the game was $590.5 million, won in May 2013 by a single player in Florida. Most have a a strategy – some play their lucky numbers, birthdays, anniversaries, and others just let the machine do the work and cross their fingers.

It hit $400 million over the weekend after another winner-less drawing on Saturday. But Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a bill earlier this month authorizing the Illinois Lottery to resume all victor payouts.

Powerball is played across 44 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

The cash value option for this drawing right now is $306-million dollars.

Any tickets purchased before 10:00 p.m. Wednesday have a chance-though very small-of winning.

They say they hope this week’s huge Powerball jackpot will bring sales back to normal. The $500 million prize is based on an annuity, which would pay out the money over 29 years. “Some of the truck drivers, they pick them up every state that they sell”.