January 13, 2016 As there were no winners last Saturday, the US Powerball Lottery jackpot has rolled over for an 18th time to a staggering $1.4 billion.
A new world record has been broken as the US Powerball Lottery jackpot soars to an unprecedented $1.4 billion. When the next draw takes place on Wednesday night, one person could join the ranks of the richest people on the planet by taking home this huge prize.
The prize has rolled over 18 times since November 4th, when it started out at the basic $40 million level, and it now stands at twice the value of the current largest payout which was for $590 million won in May 2102.
While jackpot winnings in the USA are subject to taxes, if a single ticket wins, the holder will still be around $868 million richer. That's more than Madonna or Jerry Seinfeld are worth, and not far off the net worth of Harry Potter author J K Rowling.
Understandably this has led to a surge in sales, which is common when Jackpots roll over several times, but the effect is even greater now, with some estimates putting the value of tickets being sold as $1.2 million per minute, and it's not just in the USA that this draw has attracted so much interest, as people around the world are purchasing them online.
How To Win
To win the Powerball Lottery, players need to pick the right 5 main numbers from a pool of 69 and a single Powerball number from 26. The rules were changed in October 2015 when the main numbers pool went up from 59, and this has led directly to this staggering $1.4 billion jackpot.
Although the odds of getting all six numbers correct are 1 in 292 million, once the jackpot rises to these huge levels, the expected return on a $2 ticket gives players a mathematical advantage, as the amount paid out will exceed the total amount spent on tickets for the draw in which the jackpot is won.
The draw takes place at 10.59 EST on Wednesday 13th January in Tallahassee, Florida, so anyone purchasing tickets online at sites like The Lotter and Online-Lottery-Tickets needs to note the time difference in their locality, with the UK for example, being 5 hours ahead.
