The absolute lottery craze in the US: The Powerball lottery has an incredible 1.9 billion dollars in the jackpot – the equivalent of 1.89 billion francs. The next draw will take place on Monday.
The jackpot has grown steadily since there was last a winner in early August. Since then, no player has been able to pick six correct numbers in 40 draws. Before Saturday’s draw, the jackpot had already risen to $1.6 billion, making it the “largest lottery prize ever offered in the world,” according to the operator.
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 says, “Congratulations on the jackpot!” Swiss can also participate. You don’t have to fly to the US to buy a $2 bill at a newsstand. You can also participate online.
There are providers on the internet that fill out forms on the spot for non-US citizens. If you hit the jackpot, you have to fly to the US to collect the billions with the bill. However, not all the money ends up in the account. The state where the winning ticket was purchased also wants its share.
‘Whoever wins will probably get a shock’
The odds of winning the jackpot are about one in 292 million. By comparison, the risk of being struck by lightning in the United States is about one in a million. In January 2016, three Powerball players shared the world’s largest jackpot in history, worth $1.586 billion. The second highest jackpot – and the highest won by a single player – was worth $1,537 billion and was struck in the Mega Millions lottery in October 2018.
Timothy Schultz, who lives in the US state of Iowa, knows what it’s like to win a Powerball jackpot. In 1999, however, he did not release a billion, but ‘only’ $ 28 million. Curious: he worked at a gas station at the time and sold the winning ticket to himself: “Whoever wins will probably get a shock. I can imagine it will be extremely surreal,” he told Fox News.
The lucky winner should remain calm in the beginning and keep the ticket in an absolutely safe place – for example in a bank vault. After that, you need to find good financial advisors and lawyers.
You should definitely keep both feet on the ground
His advice to the winner: “Make a financial plan and get your affairs in order before you collect the prize.” And you have to be prepared for a lot of people to contact you all of a sudden. Including strangers who just wanted money. “When you win the lottery, some people think of you as a banker.” The most important, but the hardest to implement, is to stay “down to earth” and not stand out and see yourself as something better.
And of course you shouldn’t worry too much about having so many millions in your account at once. You should try to relax and “enjoy life”. With a profit in the billions, that should certainly be possible. (jmh/AFP)