Whoever plays Powerball on Saturday night in the US has a chance to win the third largest lottery win in history. $1.5 billion awaits in the jackpot, AP News reports.
Powerball is an American lottery game played in 45 US states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Players choose a total of six numbers: five from 1 to 69 for the white balls and one number from 1 to 26 for the red «Powerball». If all six numbers match, it will say “Congratulations on the Jackpot!”
No win for 39 draws
But no Powerball player has heard this phrase for three months since the jackpot was last struck on August 3. This is also the reason for the huge sum of money waiting for the participants this Saturday: the jackpot could grow during 39 draws. And it goes fast: in the last draw on Wednesday evening, the top prize still contained $1.2 billion – on Saturday that will be $300 million more.
According to the article, the lucky winner of Saturday’s draw would then have the choice between an annual payout over 29 years or an outright payment of $745.9 million in cash. But as tempting as the incredible sums of money may be, the odds of winning are sobering: they are 1 in 292.2 million. (Hi)