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Subscribe to RSSWednesday's drawing is making headlines as millions buy tickets in hope of winning the giant jackpot. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
The Powerball jackpot is set to increase to about $500 million for the next drawing, the largest jackpot ever for the game.
The top prize will be up for grabs Wednesday after there was no winner in Saturday's drawing. The unlucky numbers were 22-32-37-44-50, and the Powerball was 34.
According to The Associated Press, Powerball officials said huge ticket sales nationally pushed the payout higher. A single winner choosing the cash payout will take home $327 million before taxes.
Record jackpots encourage players who usually sit on the sidelines to play and group purchases from work pools increase.
The jackpot is the largest ever for the Powerball game and the second largest lottery jackpot of all time, eclipsed only by the $656 million Mega Millions record set in March.
Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer said the jackpot could go even higher than the estimated $425 million because sales tend to increase in the days before record drawings. Tickets have to be purchased by 8:59 p.m. Wednesday to enter the drawing.
The previous top Powerball prize was $365 million, The AP said, which was won in 2006 by ConAgra Foods Workers in Lincoln, Neb. The Powerball lottery is played in 42 states, Washington D.C. and the US Virgin Islands.
The MegaMillions lottery holds the record for the biggest payout in U.S. history. In June, the prize hit $640 million and the winnings were shared among three ticket holders.
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Leave a Comment:
Just when I thought I was out, they pullll me back in!!
^One of my favorite Romo pics
One of my favourite Constanza quotes.
That would be *Costanza...
If I don't win, it looks like it's gonna be a lot of meals in my own kitchen.. so glad my friend got me this hilarious beginners cookbook for my bday.. it's called.. well i'ts a bit unpc so I can't tell you the name of it here.. but if you can take a good joke and don't get offended easily.. google "whipped and beaten culinary works" to find it.. but don't go if you don't have a good sense of humor..
Although the odds are against you, you still have to play to win.
You would actually have better luck and more returns by putting the money you spend in tickets into an IRA...
yeah that 5 bucks i spend once a year is killing me
Chances are.....
No IRA is going to give a lottery windfall.
The key thing to remember is that the odds of winning are so astronomically low they're almost zero... so there's not a lot of difference between buying 1 ticket, 2 tickets, 10 tickets, 100 tickets --- it's still almost zero.
So buy one ticket and don't worry about it.--- also--- better to buy 2 tickets than one ticket with a powerball.
Go ahead and invest in the IRA... fat lot of good it will do you when you get hit by a bus tomorrow.
lifetime chance of getting struck by lighting 1 in 10 thousand
chance of being attacked by a shark 1 in 11.5 milion
chance of winning the powerball jackpot 1 in 725 million ( if everyone in the United states bought two tickets and no one had the same number .. you still have a chance of no winner)
you people who play the lottery are fools!!
Except for the ones who actually win. Is a couple of bucks really going to hurt you? It's the poor people who go and buy hundreds of dollars of tickets that are the fools getting hurt.
$2.00 is cheap for a weeks worth of hope! Also, lottery proceeds benefit my state's education budget.
Now you think you stand a chance of winning, that's daydreaming.
Money for education, that's just idiotic.
If you think your dollars go to education why does NC have the worst SAT scores in the USA and why are we cutting the budget for schools.
The money is going to greedy politicians at all levels and half the winnings go to a corrupt federal reserve so they can send your tax dollars to Iraq and pay big bank robber Barron's millions in bonuses.
Wow, just think how many lottery tickets you could buy with $425 Million. ;-)
Tell that to the people that won the lottery. Also, those are the odds for the jackpot... not the smaller payouts that can be just as nice. I play once a year; no big whoop.
I just wish the bg lottery winners were someone deserving of all that money...like me
I for one am tired of the winners either being losers sure to blow it in a short period of time or someone who wants to help others or some other grandiose social good...
I just want to be rich enough to tell the rest of you to go eff yourselves...at least I'm honest...
just like congress
Rick,
Actually, nobody is "deserving" of 450 million dollars and what they do with it is purly their business.
Rick, for making me chuckle, go eff yourself too! :D
Good to see there is some honesty on this board for once.
I had a good laugh on that.
ALL OF YOU can go Efffff yourselves.
Too bad my boss is on travel because I'd be resigning today since I'm gonna win it =0p
My boss is here and I'M the one who's going to win, so I'm marching into his office right NOW and tell him to shove it!!
Well Gawker, it's been two hours. What did your boss say?
1-3-14-27-29 and Powerball # 19
Now everyone play these numbers. We'll all win.
Hehe...clever ploy to increase your own chances of not sharing with another winner when you play entirely different numbers.
Now I'd better play these numbers. What if I didn't play them and they hit?
I'm gonna WIN!
me too.. that means you'll only be getting 212 million *insert evil laugh here*
If I win I will start some kind of business and provide jobs. Also start a home for the homeless. the jack pot is more then one person will ever need it needs to be put to good.
me too... plus, buy a nice mid-range house, plus cars, plus take the kids to disney, plus...... :D lots to play with and lots to share
If I win..... I'm not going to start any business, not provide any jobs, run for president, and pretend like I'm awesome.
I won a trip to England to drive Jags for Top Gear in August. I think my luck for the year has been depleted but I'll still play anyway. Hopefully the person who wins needs it. Always better when that happens.
i won a quarter pounder with cheese in mcdonalds monopoly game so im gonna win the powerball!!!
Hopefully it works out for you. :)
but it prob wont.pa never seems to win the big one so were both screwed.good luck anyway cp.
if i win i'll give a hot million to everyone that posted before me... except RICK ;) ..i got your grandiose social scheme.... RIGHT HERE!!!
Geeze, if one person wins this, they could rub elbows with Mittens.
I hope I have a cold that day and sneeze on him.
Personally, I don't want to be in the same state as him......he's a little creepy. He actually thought he was gonna win!!!!!!!!
2. She'll die in less than 7 years and her progeny will blow it all.
Uh Yeah can I have ten dollars of Mega Power Million Balls - you dumb fvcking idiots that never play the lottery stay the hell home - What the hell is wrong with people - Oh I gotta play it 450 million - WHAT 50 Million isnt enough???????????
No, 50 million after taxes and lump sum distribution wouldn't even buy a G6.. If you are going to win the lottery at odds greater than falling out of bed and breaking your neck or getting struck by lightning more than once, then you might as well win BIG enough to be considered rich by rich people..
I am 41 years old, and in order to retire right now and live at just the same level I live at now, I would need to win at least 4 million, and that is only if I can get a 4% return on my investments.. If I wanted to be able to spend uninhibitedly, I would need a LOT more than that.. This is why people who win 3 or 4 million are broke in a year.. they think it is all the money in the world, and after taxes, a house or two, a few cars, and some spending sprees, it is all gone and they are in the hole for a half mil.. I don't want to have to worry about that.. I want so much money I don't have to be careful with it just to live like I do now.. Why is that so bad?
If 50 million isn't enough than you sir are a major azzhole and you should get the fvck out of this country and go back to where ever you came from - dumbazz
CJ thats why you ll never win. Too much anger and hate.
@DaveK, we must have read the same book "what's your number". Mine is 3.15 million but i'm also 10 years older than you.
cj65.... you must work at a gas station selling powerball tickets to be so angry about people buying them.
I have the winning numbers, and I am willing to sell them to the first person who sends me 400 million U.S. dollars.
Oh yes, and by the way...my uncle is a rich Saudi prince.
do you need my bank account information and social security as well?
could i have just one million, please!
4 8 15 16 23 42 is not impressed.
Two chicks at the same time.................
Only two
Id be fine with 100 grand!!! PLZ let me win!!!!!!!
Most people will be miserable after they win this much. Kind of like giving a million dollar reward to someone in Iraq.
First thing I would do is become a registered Republican.
The more you have to conserve the more conservative you become.
Hey Rick....I agree!
The Powerball is a great way to build your reasons WHY. I discuss more of the importance of having a strong "reason why" in my article about the Zero Resistance Process of Personal Goal Setting. But don't want to make a million dollars for the money-- do it for the person you'll have to become. What type of person will you have to become to earn a million dollars?
Truth is most folks will become millionaires simply through consistent saving and leveraging compound interest. Hope is not a strategy. What if you could Cut Taxes, Accumulate Assets, and Increase CASH Flow in your spare-time with an opportunity that could help you generate a savings plan you could do part-time that wouldn't interfere with your full-time job? Wouldn't you want to hear my story...?
I had a dream about winning this, many months ago. In my dream I was being interviewed on the news while holding the winning ticket in my hand. I've been waiting since then for this large jackpot and will buy my ticket soon. My church will never want for funds again to help people and make a difference in our community. So many lives could be changed, we'll see what happens.
A man kept praying - why cann't I win just once, I've been a good man all my life.
Suddenly there was a thunder clap and a voice boomed down "IDIOT BUY A TICKET"
i just hope its someone busting their butt to make ends meet that wins.in this economy,thats a good bet.
if i were to win i would go into hiding. vanish for a year from the day after i picked it up. when i got back, after everyone has forgotten my name, i would start a basset hound rescue.
you don't have to let them give out your name :D
I think in some states ( Ex:Illinois) you do have to release your name...Which I think is idiotic. Then I guess you have to go into hiding for a lifetime..
In Tennessee, you DO have to release your name............which sucks! I don't want anyone other than immediate family knowing........all my old friends and distant family would have their hands out and try to make me feel guilty if I say NO. That is the problem with a lot of lottery winners. They give away tooooo much money and then they are BROKE.
Well, that's sucky. Guess if I win (dependent on me remembering to first of all buy a ticket), I'll have to check that out. If I do have to give out my info, guess I can move out to the boonies, put up an electric fence, and hire my BIL to sit in the guard tower with a shotgun to deter unwelcome guests.... (he'd feel like he was deer hunting all day, so win-win)