Powerball Jackpot Hits $500 Million; Largest Since February 2015

“Does this mean that you are more likely to win with a computer pick ticket?”

Ticket sales have surged since the last drawing, with an estimated 300 million new tickets purchased between Sunday and Wednesday.

Kelly Cripe, a spokeswoman for the Texas Lottery, says no one matched the numbers drawn Wednesday night.

Many said they don’t play the lottery unless it gets to be a big pot like it is now. Larger jackpots generate more attention, both from the media and the public, which generates more sales. It’s not like players ever had a great shot at winning a jackpot, but by lengthening the odds, he said, “you take odds that were really, really small before, and now they’re almost twice as small as they were before”. Instead, you will get the cash value of the jackpot – now $306 million. Without a victor, the next jackpot will be an estimated $675 million.

Previously, players chose five numbers out of 59, but Powerball made a switch in October, so that players now choose five numbers from 69 numbers.

“They took everybody and went to live happily ever after”, said Colt Withers, who lives in Three Rivers.

“I bought 20”, said Ward.

Powerball is offered in 44 States, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

What could you buy in Memphis for $500 million?

If a winning ticket was sold for Wednesday night’s drawing, it would the biggest prize in almost a year.

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.

Many North Platte residents lined up a convenience store counters Wednesday, hoping to buy a lucky powerball ticket.