Powerball Lottery Jackpot Hits $610 Million, Here's When the Next Drawing Is
The Powerball lottery jackpot has risen to a staggering $610 million for Wednesday's drawing. The jackpot has gone unclaimed for nearly three months now, according to a report by CNN, driving up the winnings to be had by the next lucky player. Watch for the winning numbers announced on Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 10:59 p.m. ET.
The Powerball jackpot was already making waves on social media on Monday when it was worth an estimated $522 million. The winning numbers were 02, 13, 32, 33, 48 and Powerball 22, but since no one came forward with a ticket in hand, it was raised once again. Initially, it was valued at $575 million, but on Tuesday Powerball revised that estimate upward. According to the game operator, $610 million is the ninth-largest jackpot in the game's history.
The most recent winner of the Powerball was also a historically high prize. On Oct. 4, a California ticket-buyer won $699.8 million – the seventh-largest prize in U.S. lottery history. There have been 39 drawings since then, all without a winner. Of course, anyone who plays accepts the astronomically low chances of a jackpot win.
According to Powerball itself, the chances of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. However, the chances of winning some kind of prize are a more forgiving 1 in 24.9, which helps blunt the pain whenever a big winner fails to come through. According to a report by CNBC, the only proven way to improve these odds is to purchase more tickets. Each one costs $2.
For the sake of perspective, Insider collected a list of things that are statistically more likely to happen to you than winning a Powerball jackpot based on these odds. Some of them are frightening – you have a 1 in 54,093 chance of being killed by wasps, hornets or bees, according to The National Safety Council, and you have a 1 in 115,300 chance of going to the emergency room with a pogo stick-related injury, according to Deseret News.
Of course, these are heavily dependent on your lifestyle just as winning the lottery is dependent on whether you buy a ticket. In the same way, the odds of becoming president (1 in 32.6 million) are easy to ignore if you don't plan on campaigning. On the other hand, some random phenomena are more striking, such as the 1 in 200,000 chance of giving birth to conjoined twins.
In spite of the odds, the average American reportedly spends $200 per year on lottery tickets. If you dabble in the game, this week might be a good time to take your shot at it.