Estimated Powerball jackpot steady at $1.5 billion

For the first time, Aussie punters can enter the massive $2.1 billion ($US1.5 billion) United States Powerball jackpot.

The jackpot broke into the top 10 biggest in USA history on January 3 when it hit $400 million. New Jersey had 29 in the Saturday drawing, each getting $50,000.

Lottery officials say people often toss their tickets after the initial drawing if their numbers don’t match all of the winning numbers. “Nobody expected this. We encourage you to play, we encourage you to have fun with it, but it is a game, and it’s something that should not take the place of your livelihood”. “You only need one ticket in order to win”.

A lottery official says the estimated Powerball jackpot remains at $1.5 billion, still the largest lottery jackpot in the world.

In the past week, calls to the Washington-based National Council on Problem Gambling’s help line have soared, largely because of interest in the Powerball jackpot, Executive Director Keith Whyte said.

Wednesday’s drawing will be the 20th since the roll began on November 7, 2015.

After the winning numbers are drawn, it will probably take several hours to determine whether there are any jackpot winners and how many, Grief said.

It never occurs to most winners that the annuitized payout is really about putting a damper on stupidity, mistakes and greed.

“We encourage everyone to check their tickets”.

New Jersey Lottery players have one year from the draw date to claim a ticket.

Store owners said they saw double the foot traffic of people buying Powerball tickets.

The number of words written about the Powerball is approaching the number of dollars in the pot, but to be fair, it’s good reading.

The biggest Powerball victor is actually state government in the jurisdictions that participate.