Powerball jackpot reaches record $1.4 billion

It’s great news for the New Mexico Lottery, as Powerball sales had recently been down. “And a good share of people buying lottery tickets will buy other products while they are in the store”, said Bill Walljasper, senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Since 2003, Pennsylvania has sold 16 winning jackpot Powerball tickets, the most in the entire country.

What happens with the Power Play is that spending $3 per ticket, rather than $2, ensures the buyer will have his or her prize money – whatever it is – doubled, except in the case of the jackpot.

Powerball fans were on a tickets purchasing frenzy on Saturday when the jackpot was rumored to come near $700 million.

Powerball’s jackpot climbed to a staggering $1.4 billion on Monday.

The jackpot for the twice-weekly game started at $40 million on November 4 and has been growing ever since.

Powerball plays may be purchased for $2 each at Lottery retailers across the state. Officials review the estimate daily.

Even the Hoosier Lottery website was down most of Sunday because of high traffic. The signs were designed with millions – not billions – in mind.

With the Powerball jackpot expected to reach a record $1.3 billion in Wednesday’s drawing, local stores and gas stations selling the tickets expect to see the same kind of traffic as they did before Saturday’s big drawing. That’s technically correct but still a bit confusing. The initial federal tax bite from the winnings is 25% – removing $201.5 million.

Plus, if someone else matched the winning numbers, too, you’d have to split the prize. Three other tickets won $2 million because they paid extra to multiply smaller prizes. The other two tickets were sold at Pilot Travel Center, 750 Baker Road in Dexter, and Speedway, 800 Washington Ave., in Holland. Officials don’t track which numbers are most popular because so many are randomly generated.

If you were able to buy one ticket every second, it would still take you more than nine years to buy every combination.

Once you’ve got your legal team together, it’s time to decide whether you want your winnings in a lump sum or in installments over time.

The chance to win big is attracting a lot of new players to game, while hopeful returning customers are praying their luck will pan out.