JACKPOT: The Powerball jackpot is estimated at $1.3 billion for tonight’s drawing.
Oh what a dream, right?
Well, the odds are 1 in 292 million; the odds of getting struck by lightning are 1 in 10 million.
Pennsylvania has sold 18 winning tickets for the Powerball jackpot, the most of any state, while five hadn’t sold a jackpot-winning ticket yet — Maine, Mississippi, North Dakota, the Virgin Islands and Washington.
The number 32 has come up the most in Powerball drawings, at 324 times.
What about the taxes? It’s a significant bite — 37% of one’s prize money is withheld from the jackpot, so, if we did the math correctly, that’s about $481 million.
Florida has the most Powerball players, with $9.08 billion sold last year.
Do people share? Powerball says 83% of lottery winners share their winnings with at least one family member, with siblings most likely to receive a share, followed by children and then parents.
About 2 in every 3 people aged 18 to 40 buy lottery tickets in the United States.
One-quarter of lottery winners move to an entirely different country, while about 66% of them buy a new home.
About 181 million people play the Powerball every year.
Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
About 70% of winners use QuickPick to choose their numbers.
In Pennsylvania, the lottery contributes to programs including property tax and rent rebates, free and reduced fare transportation services, the low-cost prescription programs PACE and PACENET, care services and local services provided by Area Agencies on Aging.
In the 2022-23 fiscal year, the Pennsylvania Lottery sold $4.98 billion in traditional games, generating a profit of more than $1.1 billion to benefit older Pennsylvanians. More than $3.3 billion in prizes were paid to traditional game winners.