MegaMillions & Powerball Mania always seem to occur frequently. While the chance of a single ticket matching all six numbers is minuscule, it’s still worth considering how you would handle such a windfall if you beat the odds. So until you win, let’s investigate Powerball, Mega Millions, and Lotteries, since Lottery Mania Is Back Again!
Matter of fact, both MegaMillions & Powerball’s seemingly impossible odds beg to ask “why buy a ticket?” Probably because of the old adage “you can’t win if you don’t play.”
Despite the hype, lottery officials have urged players not to go overboard. According to Carolyn Becker, the spokesperson of California Lottery, playing Powerball or any game offered by a state lottery is intended to be an amusing and straightforward way to support a worthy cause. However, players should be mindful not to exceed their budget or borrow money to play.
Two Common Lottery Myths – Can You Handle the Truth?
First, Lottery results are entirely random so no one can control the outcome. Predicting a number beyond its overall probability of appearing among the winning numbers is impossible. A random guess has just as much chance at winning as playing birthdays, anniversary dates, or any personal system. Players can’t control lottery outcomes using various methods to forecast winning numbers.
Second, it would seem the more numbers you play, the better chance you have. NOT TRUE! Buying more tickets does not increase your chances. Each ticket is like one play on a slot machine – one event, with no influence from the previous play, an independent event. Don’t ever let the wrong idea of “It’s Due” influence your play in gambling – lottery, slots, table games, etc. THE ODDS DON’T CHANGE NO MATTER HOW MANY TICKETS YOU BUY! YOU DON’T HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF WINNING IF THE JACKPOT IS HIGH OR LOW, OR IF YOU BUY MORE TICKETS.
Related Post – Ultimate Guide to Video Keno
Here Are Some More Interesting Facts and Odds
While it is true – “You Can’t Win If You Don’t Play,” what chances do you have to win? You have a better chance of the following happening instead of winning Powerball:
- Dying from an asteroid strike: 1 in 74,817,414
- Getting killed by a terrorist act in the United States: 1 in 10,000,000
- Getting murdered during a trip to the Grand Canyon: 1 in 8,156,000
- Dying from chronic constipation: 1 in 2,215,900
- Becoming a movie star: 1 in 1,505,000
- Getting struck by lightning: 1 in 1,101,000
- Birthing identical quadruplets – Odds: 13,000,000 to 1
- Becoming an astronaut – Odds: 12,100,000 to 1
- Getting a royal flush in the first hand of poker – Odds: 649,740 to 1
- Finding a four-leaf clover – Odds: 10,000 to 1
Also, did you know:
- the four winning-est numbers are 26, 41, 22, and 16. Guess what – which really means nothing. If you already forgot why, refer to Lottery Myths above.
- 5% of Jackpot winners used Quick Picks for their numbers? But did you also know that according to the National Endowment for Financial Education, 70% of lottery winners go bankrupt within a few years?
- Indiana has the most Powerball jackpot wins with 39 total. Here’s a breakdown of Powerball jackpot winners by state.
Related Post – Rip up the winning ticket? 5 reasons why winning the lottery can destroy lives
Powerball Jackpot
Whether you bought a Powerball ticket or forgot — you have another chance to be disappointed on Wednesday, after no one won the $1.5 billion jackpot in Monday’s drawing.
The Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.73 billion after no one matched the game’s six numbers Monday and won the giant prize. There has been no winner for 35 consecutive drawings, since the last time someone won the top prize on July 19. That streak trails the record of 41 draws set in 2021 and 2022.
How Powerball (America’s Lottery) Works
The estimated prize for Wednesday’s drawing rose to $1.73 billion, according to the Powerball website. No one matched the six numbers, meaning the prize rolled over. The jackpot has been rising since July, which is the last time someone won the top prize in the multi-state Powerball lottery game. If won Wednesday, it would be the second-largest jackpot in the history of the Powerball game.
However, the scarcity of Powerball jackpot winners reflects the game’s daunting odds – hitting all six numbers is 1 in 292.2 million.
Tell Me More
Powerball is a multi-state lottery game that’s available in 45 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It costs $2.00. Drawings are on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. ET. Powerball may be purchased in all 6 New England states.
How to Play Powerball
First, pick your Powerball numbers! Pick 5 regular numbers from 1–69 and 1 red Powerball number from 1–26. If you don’t want to choose your own lucky numbers, you can get “Quick Picks”, which will choose the numbers randomly for you. Hitting the jackpot means matching all 5 numbers (in any order) plus the Powerball.
What is a Power Play?
For an extra $1 per game, you can add the Power Play to your ticket. This multiplies your prize — not including the jackpot — by up to ten times. The multiplier number is drawn and announced along with the winning numbers. Take note: the 10X multiplier is only available for Powerball jackpots less than $150 million.
Odds of Winning Powerball
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338. (Yikes) But, the good news is that your chances of winning any prize are 1 in 24.9.
| Match | Win | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 5 numbers + Powerball | Jackpot | 1 in 292,201,338 |
| 5 numbers | $1,000,000 | 1 in 11,688,053 |
| 4 numbers + Powerball | $50,000 | 1 in 931,001 |
| 4 numbers | $100 | 11 in 36,525.17 |
| 3 numbers + Powerball | $100 | 1 in 14,494.11 |
| 3 numbers | $7 | 1 in 579.76 |
| 2 numbers + Powerball | $7 | 11 in 701.33 |
| 1 number + Powerball | $4 | 1 in 91.98 |
| Powerball only | $4 | 1 in 38.32 |
What happens if you win Powerball?
If you bought your Powerball ticket in person from a lottery retailer, check your state lottery website for more information on how to claim your prize. It can vary from state to state.
If you win the Powerball jackpot, you get to choose how you want to be paid—either an annuity or a lump sum payout. The Powerball annuity is paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years. The lump-sum option—a one-time payment that is equal to the amount of money required to be in the jackpot prize pool, on the day of the drawing, to fund the estimated jackpot annuity prize.
The Facts About MegaMillions
- Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot is estimated at $1.25 billion, with a lump-sum cash value of $602.5 million. And based on past multi-state lottery jackpots, that estimate may get a lot bigger by the time the drawing kicks off Friday night.
- You can play Mega Millions in 45 states plus the District of Columbia and the U. S. Virgin Islands, a total of 47 jurisdictions.
- The history of Mega Millions is as exciting as playing the game! Following a record $363 million Big Game jackpot in 2000, interest in multi-state games was at an all-time high. And as interest in the multi-state games grew, so did the participants. In May 2002, New York and Ohio joined Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and Virginia to create Mega Millions! Sales for the country’s newest multi-state jackpot game began on May 15, 2002
- On January 31, 2010, 23 more state lotteries joined Mega Millions as a historic cross-selling agreement between Mega Millions and Powerball went into effect.
How MegaMillions Works
If you have any confusion about how to play, here is a primer:
Todd Northrop at LotteryPost.com says, “The most commonly-heard phrase this week might be, “Did you get MegaMillions tickets?” or “Did you get your Powerball tickets?” That’s because nobody won the Powerball multi-state lottery yet.
Todd Northrop – His article called “$1.025 BILLION Mega Millions jackpot is 4th largest the world has ever seen, the Cash value is $602.5 million” is a comprehensive look at State Lotteries, specifically MegaMillions.
Is Powerball better to play than Mega Millions?
According to Jackpocket, a Lottery Blog, when it comes to choosing between Powerball and Mega Millions, consider odds, prize levels, and drawing frequency. For example, Mega Millions has slightly better odds of winning any prize level but Powerball has slightly higher odds of winning the jackpot. Here’s everything you need to know about Powerball vs Mega Millions.
Links to New England State Lotteries.
Mass Lottery, New Hampshire Lottery, Connecticut Lottery, Maine Lottery, Rhode Island Lottery, Vermont Lottery
Related Post – Guide to State Lotteries
Summary
So, it’s true – You Can’t Win If You Don’t Play. But remember, chance controls the outcome.
That’s all for now – gotta rush down to Lotto Mart to buy my winning ticket.
Binbin