By SCOTT McFETRIDGE | The Related Press
DES MOINES, Iowa — Monday evening’s estimated $1.9 billion Powerball jackpot is sort of $400 million bigger than the earlier file jackpot and can continue to grow till somebody lastly wins the prize.
The jackpot began at $20 million again on Aug. 6 and over three winless months has grown to be 95 occasions as massive. Put one other means, it’s a loopy sum of money.
WHY SO LONG WITHOUT A WINNER?
Those that spend $2 on a Powerball ticket would possibly marvel if one thing is incorrect when 40 drawings cross with no jackpot winner, however that is how the sport is designed. With odds of 1 in 292 million, meaning it’s unlikely anybody will win the prize till a rising jackpot attracts extra gamers. And extra ticket gross sales imply the lottery can increase extra money for public applications, which is the purpose of the state lotteries. Nonetheless, it has been an terrible very long time with no jackpot, and if there isn’t a winner Monday evening, a brand new file can have been reached: 41 attracts with out anybody matching all six numbers.
PLENTY OF PEOPLE MUST BE PLAYING NOW, RIGHT?
Sure and no. Many, many extra persons are shopping for tickets now that the jackpot has reached practically $2 billion. That’s clear from the truth that when the jackpot began at $20 million in the summertime, gamers purchased solely sufficient tickets to cowl lower than 10% of the 292.2 million attainable quantity combos. For Saturday evening’s drawing, that had climbed to 62%, so thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of persons are taking part in. However that proportion remains to be lower than the 88.6% protection reached for the earlier file jackpot in 2016. And if 38% of the attainable quantity combos aren’t coated, there's a good likelihood there received’t be a winner.
WILL THE EVENTUAL WINNER REALLY GET $1.9 BILLION?
Pity the poor Powerball winner, because the fortunate ticketholder will see nothing near $1.9 billion. It’s solely a query of how a lot much less.
First, that $1.9 billion prize is for winners who select fee by an annuity, which sends out a verify yearly for 29 years, with a 5% improve every year. However virtually no winners take the annuity, as an alternative choosing money. For Monday evening’s drawing, the money prize could be $929.1 million, or lower than half the annuity prize.
Federal taxes would take a further chew, lessening the payout by greater than one-third, and plenty of states tax lottery winnings would as effectively.
The distinction between the annuity and money prizes has grown bigger not too long ago as a result of inflation has resulted in larger rates of interest, which implies cash invested within the annuity can develop.
DO I HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF WINNING IF I BUY MORE TICKETS?
Sure, however your odds of profitable aren’t considerably improved. Consider it this fashion: In the event you purchase one ticket, you've a 1 in 292.2 million likelihood of profitable the jackpot. In the event you spend $10 for 5 quantity combos, your likelihood is higher, however at 5 in 292.2 million you continue to virtually undoubtedly usually are not going to hit the jackpot. The identical is true when you spend $100. Lottery officers say the typical participant buys two or three tickets, which means they’re placing cash down on a dream with little or no likelihood it's going to repay in a wealthy actuality.
WHERE IS POWERBALL PLAYED?
Powerball is performed in 45 states, in addition to Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.