Things to know about the giant Powerball jackpot

You may want to consider purchasing a ticket for Saturday’s record-breaking Powerball draw, with an estimated US$800 million up for grabs in the American lottery. “This POWERBALL jackpot is not only a life-changing opportunity for any person, but also it has allowed the Lottery to generate over $40 million in revenue for Florida students and schools”.

Powerball lottery tickets sit on a store counter in the Manhattan borough of New York January 5, 2016.

The logo for the multi-state lottery Powerball.

Saturday’s Powerball jackpot continues to grow as more tickets are sold. Powerball is played in 44 states, but the tickets aren’t sold in Alabama.

One statistician warned ticket buyers not to get too excited, comparing the odds of winning, one in 292 million, to counting the drops of water in the ocean, or grains of sand in the world.

It has been over two months since someone last picked all six numbers correctly in Powerball – and because no one won on Wednesday, the pool has bloated to a mind-blowing amount of money. By making it harder to win a jackpot, the tougher odds made the ever-larger prizes inevitable.

Lottery winners can choose to take a one-time cash payout, or to receive annual payments for the next 30 years.

Since ticket sales began for the November 7 drawing through Wednesday night, Powerball players across the state won more than $7 million in prizes – and ticket sales generated more than $14 million for education.

“I would like to travel”, said Christie Perkins when asked what she would do with the jackpot. “We have never had a jackpot this high”.

Towson Fraser, owner of lobbying firm Fraser Solutions, picked up 10 tickets Friday afternoon, shelling out a little extra for the Power Play option, which multiplies non-jackpot winnings. Because the payout is based on sales, the prize has grown more quickly as the jackpot has increased because more people have been drawn to play. That’s because when people use birthdates or other favorite figures, they generally choose numbers 31 or below.

What are the odds I’ll win?