Powerball prize hits $450 mil, growing $50 mil in 1 day

According to USA Mega, the entire $145 million jackpot will be split into 30 payments of approximately $4.8 million each (before taxes) with the first payment issued shortly after your ticket is verified by lottery officials.

No one has won the Powerball jackpot since November 4.

Mr. Noone expects more people to come into his market to purchase tickets as the drawing approaches, saying he usually notices an uptick the last few hours before the deadline when the prize money climbs.

The drawing for the $400 million jackpot will take place Wednesday evening.

A woman breezed through the store to the counter to purchase her Powerball tickets, saying aloud that she rarely plays but that a jackpot this big was just too much to pass up.

Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, Washington D.C., U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. The victor, however, isn’t the only one who will get paid.

You can add to your winnings by buying a $1 Power Play option, which allows a victor to increase lower-tier prizes by a factor of 2, 3, 4 or 5, depending on the Power Play number drawn.

The largest Powerball jackpot across all participating states to date was $590.5 million, won in Florida in May 2013. Vehicles with license plates from Harrison, Hancock, Lamar and Pearl River counties could be seen at a variety of convenient stores just off I-10 and I-59 Tuesday morning as people lined up at the counters to buy a chance at making history. If all your numbers match those that are chosen, you win the jackpot, which starts at $40 million and grows until someone wins.

It’s rare for the Powerball jackpot to be so large, according to Medencia. “The manager already said she will have to be here the full day”.

Q: I’m feeling lucky!

One thing that hasn’t changed is the sometimes challenging task of deciding what to do with all that money if you win.

And customers at Carthage Market are hoping the odds are in their favor during Wednesday night’s drawing, so they can buy the big ticket items they’ve always dreamed of.

“Gotta see if I win that big money”, he said. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292 million.