$1.2 billion Powerball drawing nears after 11 weeks without a winner

(AP) – A $1.2 billion Powerball jackpot will once more be up for grabs Wednesday night time after an 11-week stretch with no large winner, however irrespective of how massive the prize grows the chances keep the identical — they usually’re horrible.

It’s these odds of 1 in 292.2 million that make the jackpot so arduous to win and that end in such large prizes for the fortunate participant or gamers who handle to choose the sport’s six profitable numbers. The most recent Powerball jackpot is the world’s seventh-largest lottery prize. The final time somebody received the highest prize was July 19.

GAME DETAILS

In most states, Powerball tickets value $2 and patrons can selected their very own numbers and single Powerball or go away that job to a pc. Powerball drawings are held 3 times every week at 10:59 p.m. EDT on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturday, with the numbers chosen on the Florida Lottery in Tallahassee.

As soon as the numbers are chosen, it often takes a pair hours to find out if there’s a jackpot winner. If there isn’t a winner, state lottery officers launch a jackpot estimate for the following drawing. If there’s a winner, the jackpot reverts to $20 million and begins the lengthy technique of rising till there’s one other winner.

HOW IS THE JACKPOT DETERMINED?

The jackpot relies on income from ticket gross sales, so the extra individuals who play the sport, the sooner the highest prize grows. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the present jackpot is marketed as $1.2 billion, the lottery has lower than half that quantity accessible for the highest prize. That’s why the money prize — which most winners take — can be $551.7 billion.

Gamers can also select an annuity, wherein that $551.7 billion can be paid to an organization that will assure a return over 30 years of $1.2 billion. If a winner dies earlier than accumulating all their cash, the rest would go to the winner’s property.

WHAT ABOUT TAXES?

State lotteries will instantly deduct 24% of jackpot winnings for federal taxes, and extra federal taxes could also be required when submitting federal tax returns. State taxes will differ as some states don’t tax lottery winnings in any respect and others tax the cash at totally different charges.

Gamers who purchase profitable grand prize tickets in a state totally different from the place they reside pays taxes based mostly on the place they purchased the ticket.

DO POWERBALL ODDS CHANGE BASED ON THE NUMBER OF PLAYERS?

The sport’s odds stay 1 in 292.2 million no matter how large the jackpot is and the variety of folks shopping for tickets. These odds imply there are 292.2 million doable quantity mixtures.

To place the immensity of that into context, notice that for Monday’s drawing gamers throughout the nation selected simply over 20% of these doable mixtures. Meaning almost 80% of the doable mixtures weren’t chosen, so the chances had been fairly good that there wouldn’t be a winner.

Usually, the bigger the jackpot grows, the extra folks play and the extra mixtures are coated. Individuals additionally often purchase extra tickets on Saturdays, which will increase the possibility of a winner for these drawings.

CAN WINNERS REMAIN ANONYMOUS?

Guidelines differ from state to state with some requiring that jackpot winners be named and others permitting anonymity. Some states have extra detailed guidelines, similar to in Florida, the place winners can stay nameless for 90 days earlier than the state lottery releases their identify.

WHERE IS THE GAME PLAYED?

Powerball is performed in 45 states in addition to Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The opposite almost nationwide lottery recreation, Mega Hundreds of thousands, can be performed in these 45 states in addition to Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The 5 states that don’t take part within the video games are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.