Powerball prize invites myths, misconceptions about lottery

The grand prize for Powerball has climbed steadily for weeks after repeated drawings produced no big winners. That’s when he discovered his ticket matched the first five numbers to win $1 million. More than $1 billion in Powerball tickets have been sold in the U.S, lottery officials said. California and Pennsylvania exempt lottery winnings from income taxes if the ticket was bought in-state. Be cautious about joining lottery poolsWhile lottery pools are fun to participate in with friends and coworkers, they can also be rife grounds for lawsuits and broken relationships.

“The more people playing, the more people winning you end up having more ways that you have to split the prize”, said O’Laughlin.

Lottery officials say you’re more likely to get a winning ticket if the machine picks the numbers for you. That’s because when people hear that they didn’t hit the big jackpot, they often neglect to check whether they won any smaller prizes, according to Jacobson.

The next drawing will be Wednesday night at 11 pm ET.

The odds of winning the Powerball are 1 in 292 million.

The victor can choose annual payments over 29 years, or a lump sum cash payment of $806 million.

Matthew Brewer isn’t a regular Powerball player. This week ticket purchases surged along with the size of the pot, driving the prize beyond the $900 million reported earlier.

No one matched all six Powerball numbers on Saturday night – 16-19-32-34-57 and Powerball number of 13 – so the jackpot is still theirs for the taking.

She says 2.8 million dollars worth of tickets were sold in Tennessee just on Sunday alone. “Absolutely confirmed”, Texas Lottery Executive Director Gary Grief said.

The more tickets you buy, the higher your chances, but buying all possible number combinations probably wouldn’t be smart.

The largest Powerball jackpot before this point was a $590.5 million prize won in the drawing on May 18, 2013, by a Florida woman, according to lottery officials. Powerball sales must stop by 10 p.m. EST on Saturday, but states can cut off sales earlier.