Powerball hits $1.5 bln, largest-ever lottery jackpot for one winner

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – With up to $1.4 billion at stake in Wednesday’s Powerball, questions about the drawing seem to be as abundant as the convenience-store kiosks offering tickets for the record-breaking jackpot.

Stay with WSBTV.com and watch Channel 2 Action News for the latest on the Powerball jackpot.

The world-record Powerball jackpot is up again.

A billboard outside Waverly, Neb., displays the top Powerball prize as $999 million, Monday, Jan. 11, 2016.

In the event Idaho has a jackpot winning ticket Wednesday night, the retail location that sells the winning ticket would receive a $50,000 bonus from the Idaho Lottery. The jackpot estimate is reviewed daily, and the odds of winning are a mere 1 in 292.2 million.

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

As of Tuesday morning, the estimated Powerball jackpot is $1.5 billion – an estimated cash value of $930 million if the victor takes the immediate cash buyout.

“People are flocking over from those states to stand in line and buy lottery tickets”, he said.

“I’m hearing anecdotally and through news outlets, millions of people who have never played Powerball before are indeed purchasing a ticket”, he added.

To win, a ticket holder has to match all numbers on six balls selected – five white balls from a drum containing 69 balls, and one red one pulled from a drum with 26.

Officials expect similar sales before the next drawing, but Grief said it’s hard to predict how excitement about the record jackpot will boost sales.

The new jackpot is the largest of any lottery game in US history. It also means that your odds of winning some prize are improved, according to their website. Powerball gives people a chance to escape – if just for a few moments – from everyday worries about paying bills, living paycheck to paycheck and wondering if they’ll have enough money to enjoy retirement. They make good points, and I would never suggest that any person should spend too much of their hard-earned cash gambling. “We’ve sold more than $1,000 worth of Powerball today, and it’s still early”, said Amin Haffar, owner of a Citgo service station in Chicago suburb Oak Lawn. (Neither would lottery officials, by the way).