Are you lucky enough to turn a $2 investment into $450 million?
Thanks to strong ticket sales, the Powerball jackpot for the Wednesday, January 6th drawing has increased to a $450 million annuity value, or a $275.4 million cash prize.
The jackpot had rolled to a $400 million annuity value, or $244 million cash prize, after the drawing on Saturday, January 2, produced no jackpot winner.
If won, the jackpot would rank as the Powerball game’s fourth-largest annuity prize on record. This jackpot has been rolling since the November 4, 2015, drawing.
The odds of winning the jackpot are: 1-in-292 million
Think it can’t happen here? In February 2012, Newport, RI resident Louise White won a $336 million Powerball jackpot, the third largest Powerball jackpot at the time. She purchased the winning ticket at Stop & Shop on Bellevue Avenue.
How to play Powerball: Players pay $2 and select five white balls from the first set of 69 numbers plus a single red ball, the Powerball, from a second set of 26 numbers. Players may select their own numbers using a Powerball playslip, or they may opt for computer-selected quick picks. Players must match all five numbers drawn plus the Powerball number to win the jackpot. There also are eight additional ways for players to win a cash prize.
Purchasing the $1 Power Play option allows a winner to increase lower-tier prizes by a factor of 2, 3, 4 or 5, depending on the Power Play number drawn. A 10X multiplier will be available for the Match 4+1 prize and lower prize tiers when the jackpot is at or below $150 million, or when announced. The jackpot and the Match 5 prize are not multiplied. The Match 5 prize with the Power Play option is worth $2 million. It is $1 million without Power Play.
Powerball is sold in 44 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
