Powerball joins lottery frenzy with $620 million jackpot

Oct 21, 2018, 10:16 am (124 comments)

Powerball

More than $2.2 billion in multi-state jackpots can be won this week

By Todd Northrop

This will be a week talked about in the lottery industry for a long time.

Lottery players are dreaming about unimaginable wealth, lottery retailers are enjoying the prosperity of a huge uptick in store traffic, and state governments are rubbing their hands in anticipation of a revenue windfall.

Everyone knows about the record $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot that is being talked about around the world. But in its shadow the USA's other big multi-state game, Powerball, has been racking up huge increases, and is now simultaneously among the richest lottery jackpots of all time.

The combination of the two games, with drawings set for Tuesday and Wednesday, offers more than $2.2 billion in lottery jackpots that anyone can try their luck at for as little as $2 per game.

Last night, after nobody won the $476.7 million Powerball jackpot, lottery officials raised the estimate for the Wednesday drawing to $620 million — the 6th-largest lottery jackpot of all time. It is only the 6th time in history that a lottery jackpot has risen to more than $600 million.

The lump-sum cash value of the jackpot is just as eye-popping: $354.3 million. And likely to grow even bigger before Wednesday.

(See the top 25 United States annuity and cash value jackpots below.)

Of course, the big winner (or winners) will have to pay taxes on their prize, so USA Mega has a handy Powerball Jackpot Analysis page available to calculate the federal and state taxes that would be withheld upon the award of your nice big jackpot. A Mega Millions Jackpot Analysis is also available.

Players looking for a nearby lottery retailer — or that out-of-the-way retailer with a smaller line — are encouraged to use Lottery Places, an app for iOS, Android, and Windows that can locate the nearest lottery retailers in every jurisdiction that sells Powerball and Mega Millions. The helpful app can locate lottery stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, much of Canada, and the Caribbean.

Michigan lottery players can bypass the store completely and buy their Powerball lottery tickets online. (They can also buy Mega Millions lottery tickets online.)

Players outside the USA can use a reputable butler service, which provides scanned copies of the purchased lottery tickets securely held on behalf of the customer. In the past, the lottery ticket service was used by people out side the USA to win big jackpots in Oregon and Florida.

Whatever you do, don't wait.  Lottery officials stress the importance of not waiting until the last minute to buy lottery tickets for either of these historic jackpots.

Wednesday's mammoth Powerball jackpot is the result of 20 consecutive draws without a winner.  The run-up started as a $40 million prize on Aug. 15.

The winning numbers for Saturday, October 20, 2018 were 16, 54, 57, 62, and 69, with Powerball number 23.  The Power Play number was 2.

Even though nobody won the jackpot Saturday, 9 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Arizona, 1 from Connecticut, 1 from Florida, 1 from Indiana, 1 from Michigan, 1 from Missouri, 1 from New Jersey, 1 from Tennessee, and 1 from Washington.

Two of the second-prize winners purchased the Power Play option — the tickets sold in Florida and Tennessee.  Because those tickets were purchased with the Power Play option their second-prize wins are automatically doubled to $2 million.  Power Play is not available in California, because the fixed nature of the prize increase offered in Power Play is not compatible with California's pari-mutuel payouts. By law, California awards all prizes on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning the prizes will change each drawing based on the number of tickets sold and the number of tickets that won at each prize level.

104 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000.  Of those tickets, 17 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $100,000, and 13 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $17,044 this drawing.

Following the Saturday drawing, the Powerball annuity jackpot estimate was raised a whopping $143.3 million from its previous amount of $476.7 million and the cash value was raised by $81.9 million from its previous amount of $272.4 million.

The next Powerball drawing will take place Wednesday night at 10:59 pm Eastern Time.

When a Powerball ticket is purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1 per ticket, any non-jackpot prize is increased according to a fixed prize schedule, which can be found on the Powerball Drawing Detail page at USA Mega, as well as on the Powerball Prize Payouts page at Lottery Post.

Powerball is played in 44 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Drawings are Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time.  Tickets cost $2 each.

Powerball lottery results are published within minutes of the drawing at USA Mega (www.usamega.com).  The USA Mega Web site provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States's two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.

Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time

Wednesday's Powerball jackpot currently stands as the 6th-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States, and the 6th-largest Powerball jackpot ever.  The frenzy of lottery ticket sales this week will almost certainly push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.

  1. Mega Millions: $1.6 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
  2. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 - California, Florida, Tennessee
  3. Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 - Massachusetts
  4. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
  5. Mega Millions: $636 million, Dec. 17, 2013 - California, Georgia
  6. Powerball: $620 million, Oct. 24, 2007 - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
  7. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 - Florida
  8. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 - Arizona, Missouri
  9. Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
  10. Powerball: $559.7 million, Jan. 6, 2018 - New Hampshire
  11. Mega Millions: $543 million, Jul. 24, 2018 - California
  12. Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 - Indiana
  13. Mega Millions: $533 million, Mar. 30, 2018 - New Jersey
  14. Powerball: $487 million, Jul. 30, 2016 - New Hampshire
  15. Powerball: $456.7 million, Mar. 17, 2018 - Pennsylvania
  16. Mega Millions: $451 million, Jan. 5, 2018 - Florida
  17. Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
  18. Powerball: $447.8 million, Jun. 10, 2017 - California
  19. Powerball: $435.3 million, Feb. 22, 2017 - Indiana
  20. Powerball: $429.6 million, May 7, 2016 - New Jersey
  21. Powerball: $425.3 million, Feb. 19, 2014 - California
  22. Powerball: $420.9 million, Nov. 26, 2016 - Tennessee
  23. Mega Millions: $414 million, Mar. 18, 2014 - Florida, Maryland
  24. Powerball: $399.4 million, Sep. 18, 2013 - South Carolina
  25. Mega Millions: $393 million, Aug. 11, 2017 - Illinois

For those keeping score, the number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

  • Powerball: 15
  • Mega Millions: 10

Top 25 cash value jackpots

Since many lottery winners collect their winnings in cash, the lump-sum payout is an important measure of what a winning ticket could be worth.

Looking at the cash value, the upcoming Powerball jackpot ranks as the 9th-largest cash value in world history.

  1. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
  2. Mega Millions: $904.9 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.6 billion annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
  3. Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
  4. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
  5. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
  6. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
  7. Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
  8. Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
  9. Powerball: $354.3 million cash, Oct. 24, 2018 ($620 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
  10. Powerball: $352 million cash, Jan. 6, 2018 ($559.7 million annuity) - New Hampshire
  11. Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($636 million annuity) - California, Georgia
  12. Powerball: $336.8 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire
  13. Mega Millions: $324 million cash, Mar. 30, 2018 ($533 million annuity) - New Jersey
  14. Mega Millions: $320.5 million cash, Jul. 24, 2018 ($543 million annuity) - California
  15. Powerball: $284 million cash, May 7, 2016 ($429.6 million annuity) - New Jersey
  16. Mega Millions: $281.9 million cash, Jan. 5, 2018 ($451 million annuity) - Florida
  17. Powerball: $279.1 million cash, Jun. 10, 2017 ($447.8 million annuity) - California
  18. Powerball: $273.9 million cash, Mar. 17, 2018 ($456.7 million annuity) - Pennsylvania
  19. Powerball: $263.5 million cash, Feb. 22, 2017 ($435.3 million annuity) - Indiana
  20. Powerball: $258.2 million cash, Aug. 7, 2013 ($448.4 million annuity) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
  21. Powerball: $254.7 million cash, Nov. 26, 2016 ($420.9 million annuity) - Tennessee
  22. Mega Millions: $246.5 million cash, Aug. 11, 2017 ($393 million annuity) - Illinois
  23. Mega Millions: $240 million cash, Jan. 4, 2011 ($380 million annuity) - Idaho, Washington
  24. Mega Millions: $233.1 million cash, Mar. 6, 2007 ($390 million annuity) - Georgia, New Jersey
  25. Mega Millions: $230.9 million cash, Mar. 18, 2014 ($414 million annuity) - Florida, Maryland

The number of jackpot cash values in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

  • Powerball: 14
  • Mega Millions: 11

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

I*won

That's enough money to live off just the interest and be able to pass it down for generations to come. There are so many ways to use the money and grow your fortune too. I can't wait to see what is done with it.

I*won

Why is the jackpot bigger on some of the jackpots and yet the cash payouts are smaller than other payouts?

  1. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
  2. Mega Millions: $904.9 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.6 billion annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
lowellm

Quote: Originally posted by I*won on Oct 21, 2018

Why is the jackpot bigger on some of the jackpots and yet the cash payouts are smaller than other payouts?

  1. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
  2. Mega Millions: $904.9 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.6 billion annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet

The true "jackpot" is the actual cash that is in the "pot" (the cash value, or CV), and the "Jackpot" figure that they advertise is the "annuity", the CV plus the interest that cash would earn over the 29 year annuity. If you choose the annuity (not the cash option) they would invest the CV for you in low interest, but very safe, government bonds, and they would send you a check every year.

Bleudog101

Saylorgirl:  Won $8 on your Powerball last night.  Good luck to you.

Kingofearth's avatarKingofearth

Quote: Originally posted by lowellm on Oct 21, 2018

The true "jackpot" is the actual cash that is in the "pot" (the cash value, or CV), and the "Jackpot" figure that they advertise is the "annuity", the CV plus the interest that cash would earn over the 29 year annuity. If you choose the annuity (not the cash option) they would invest the CV for you in low interest, but very safe, government bonds, and they would send you a check every year.

That leads to some interesting jackpot size comparisons

Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($636 million annuity) - California, Georgia
Powerball: $336.8 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

I'll play this later in the week!

Lep

lowellm

Quote: Originally posted by I*won on Oct 21, 2018

Why is the jackpot bigger on some of the jackpots and yet the cash payouts are smaller than other payouts?

  1. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
  2. Mega Millions: $904.9 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.6 billion annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet

To give you some idea of the difference between the annuity and what the cash option would be worth over the same period of time, if you had won a million dollars  CV in 1989 (29 years ago) and took the annuity (for the sake of comparison, we'll use the same ratio as they're using today, .565, so $1,000,000/.565=$1,770,000 Annuity Value, if evenly distributed you'd receive a nice check in the mail every year for about $61,000 minus taxes... If you'd taken the CV, you'd get a check for $1,000,000 minus taxes, let's call it $600,000. If you'd invested that into Johnson & Johnson common stock, an extremely well run but boring company, the share price back then was around $6, so you own 100,000shares of J&J. The stock paid a dividend of $1.16/year, if my charts are correct, so that's $116,000 per year dividend income (on a $600,000 investment in such a safe company, that's screaming hot, and not typical) and today those same shares would be paying you $360,000 per year in dividend income pre-tax... And your 100,000 shares would be worth $14,000,000. Or you could be going to the post office this month to pick up your last check for $61,000 if you'd chosen the annuity. ;)

lowellm

Quote: Originally posted by Kingofearth on Oct 21, 2018

That leads to some interesting jackpot size comparisons

Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($636 million annuity) - California, Georgia
Powerball: $336.8 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire

Yep! It's crazy how much the bond prices can sway the anticipated value of the annuity. I forgot to mention that to I*won, that the reason why there is such a large difference is because the bond prices go up and down, thus affecting the ratio between the actual CV and the anticipated annuity value.

lowellm

Quote: Originally posted by lowellm on Oct 21, 2018

To give you some idea of the difference between the annuity and what the cash option would be worth over the same period of time, if you had won a million dollars  CV in 1989 (29 years ago) and took the annuity (for the sake of comparison, we'll use the same ratio as they're using today, .565, so $1,000,000/.565=$1,770,000 Annuity Value, if evenly distributed you'd receive a nice check in the mail every year for about $61,000 minus taxes... If you'd taken the CV, you'd get a check for $1,000,000 minus taxes, let's call it $600,000. If you'd invested that into Johnson & Johnson common stock, an extremely well run but boring company, the share price back then was around $6, so you own 100,000shares of J&J. The stock paid a dividend of $1.16/year, if my charts are correct, so that's $116,000 per year dividend income (on a $600,000 investment in such a safe company, that's screaming hot, and not typical) and today those same shares would be paying you $360,000 per year in dividend income pre-tax... And your 100,000 shares would be worth $14,000,000. Or you could be going to the post office this month to pick up your last check for $61,000 if you'd chosen the annuity. ;)

Just for fun: by weight of comparison, you win this MM jackpot and take the CV and pay your taxes, give the Lord His 10%, and give away another 10% to loved ones you're left with $440M to invest in a company stock (to grossly oversimplify things your stock will perform just like J&J in our northern example)... In 29 years your dividend income will be $264M per year pre-tax, and the shares would be worth $10.1B.

TheMeatman2005's avatarTheMeatman2005

Quote: Originally posted by I*won on Oct 21, 2018

Why is the jackpot bigger on some of the jackpots and yet the cash payouts are smaller than other payouts?

  1. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
  2. Mega Millions: $904.9 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.6 billion annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet

One of the reasons is the current interest rate versus the interest rate available back in 2016 when the Power Ball jackpot was $1.5864 Billion.

Looking at the current MM jackpot of $1.6 Bil, the cash value is $904.9 Mil.

That is .565562 of $1.6 Bil whereas $983.5 Mil cash value is .619957 of $1.5864 Bil.

The higher the interest rate, the less cash is needed to reach the projected advertised annuity amount. As well as the lower the interest rate, the more cash needed to reach the projected annuity amount.

If the Power Ball lottery from 2016 was held now, the advertised annuity value would be $1,738,978,219

$983.5 mil ÷ .565562 = 1,738,978,219

If the Mega Millions lottery for Tuesday was held back in 2016, the advertised annuity value would be $1,459,617,360

$904.9 mil ÷ .619957 = 1,459,617,360

I think I did this correctly What?

lowellm

Quote: Originally posted by TheMeatman2005 on Oct 21, 2018

One of the reasons is the current interest rate versus the interest rate available back in 2016 when the Power Ball jackpot was $1.5864 Billion.

Looking at the current MM jackpot of $1.6 Bil, the cash value is $904.9 Mil.

That is .565562 of $1.6 Bil whereas $983.5 Mil cash value is .619957 of $1.5864 Bil.

The higher the interest rate, the less cash is needed to reach the projected advertised annuity amount. As well as the lower the interest rate, the more cash needed to reach the projected annuity amount.

If the Power Ball lottery from 2016 was held now, the advertised annuity value would be $1,738,978,219

$983.5 mil ÷ .565562 = 1,738,978,219

If the Mega Millions lottery for Tuesday was held back in 2016, the advertised annuity value would be $1,459,617,360

$904.9 mil ÷ .619957 = 1,459,617,360

I think I did this correctly What?

It's funny to think that if interest rates suddenly took a nose-dive, a typical jackpot could (theoretically) drop from one drawing to the next, even without a jackpot winner!

CDanaT's avatarCDanaT

Quote: Originally posted by lowellm on Oct 21, 2018

Just for fun: by weight of comparison, you win this MM jackpot and take the CV and pay your taxes, give the Lord His 10%, and give away another 10% to loved ones you're left with $440M to invest in a company stock (to grossly oversimplify things your stock will perform just like J&J in our northern example)... In 29 years your dividend income will be $264M per year pre-tax, and the shares would be worth $10.1B.

MM Cash Option( currently): $ 904,900,000.

Minus 37% Feds Accumulation: $ -334,813,000

Net sum in your pocket: $ 570,087,000

**please deduct for for state and local taxes applicably

 

My take on the 30 year ANNUITY Plan.... Then again, I'm an old curmudgeon

Puke30 year annuity plan

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by TheMeatman2005 on Oct 21, 2018

One of the reasons is the current interest rate versus the interest rate available back in 2016 when the Power Ball jackpot was $1.5864 Billion.

Looking at the current MM jackpot of $1.6 Bil, the cash value is $904.9 Mil.

That is .565562 of $1.6 Bil whereas $983.5 Mil cash value is .619957 of $1.5864 Bil.

The higher the interest rate, the less cash is needed to reach the projected advertised annuity amount. As well as the lower the interest rate, the more cash needed to reach the projected annuity amount.

If the Power Ball lottery from 2016 was held now, the advertised annuity value would be $1,738,978,219

$983.5 mil ÷ .565562 = 1,738,978,219

If the Mega Millions lottery for Tuesday was held back in 2016, the advertised annuity value would be $1,459,617,360

$904.9 mil ÷ .619957 = 1,459,617,360

I think I did this correctly What?

It actually shows how good the economy is doing right now.

TheMeatman2005's avatarTheMeatman2005

Quote: Originally posted by lowellm on Oct 21, 2018

It's funny to think that if interest rates suddenly took a nose-dive, a typical jackpot could (theoretically) drop from one drawing to the next, even without a jackpot winner!

THAT'S NOT FUNNY! No No

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