Powerball jackpot leaps over half-billion dollar mark
DES MOINES, Iowa -- No winning tickets were sold for the $460 million Powerball drawing.
The winning numbers selected Wednesday night were 2, 18, 37, 39 and 42, and the Powerball number was 12.
The jackpot jumps to an estimated $550 million for Saturday's drawing. That would make it the nation's 8th largest lottery prize ever.
Powerball is played in 44 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The odds of winning are one in 292.2 million.
The $550 million prize refers to the annuity option, paid over 29 years. The cash prize would be almost $348 million.
Lottery players also can vie for another giant prize, as the Mega Millions game's grand prize will be $418 million in Friday's drawing.
The odds of winning one of the jackpots is roughly one in 259 million for Mega Millions and one in 292 million for Powerball. And the chances of winning both, for those of you thinking really big? Roughly one in 75 quadrillion -- that's 15 zeros -- according to data scientists at Allstate.
To understand how unlikely those odds are, it's worth comparing them to the probability of other unlikely events. Americans are much more likely to get struck by lightning (odds of one in 13,500) or to die in a car accident (one in 645).
The average American spends about $200 a year on lottery tickets, although residents of some states spend far more. According to a study by LendEDU, the average Massachusetts resident spends $735 annually on lottery tickets. Rhode Islanders spend $514 a year. Those in Delaware or New York are likely spending about $400 a year, or $33 per month.
