After a dry spell that lasted 20 draws, since October last year, growing the jackpot to the astounding amount of $570 million, a single Powerball winner was finally found on Saturday. The winner, who hasn't come forward to claim the prize just yet, bought his or her lucky ticket in New Hampshire and will be picking up the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot in history.
Defying the Odds
Powerball and Mega Millions are the two largest lotteries in the US. Although the odds of winning either of these two jackpots have always been astronomical, recent changes made it even harder for players to claim the main score. Conversely, this is likely to lead to even bigger jackpots in the future, as the amount increases with each draw.
Powerball jackpot starts off at $40 million, which is the number it will go back now after the enormous Saturday win. To put things into perspective, the lucky winner overcame odds of more than 1 in 302 million to win the jackpot.
Although winning $570 million is something 99.9% of people can only dream about, the amount is actually about a third of the largest-ever Powerball jackpot, which was awarded in January of 2016, to the tune of $1.6 billion. However, in that instance, there were three winning tickets, so the latest winner, being the only one, will actually cash in a larger amount than any of the 2016 winners.
How to Get Involved?
Some years ago, different country and region-specific lotteries were restricted to people living in those parts of the world. These days, however, thanks to the internet, it is possible for almost anyone to take part in huge lottery drawings such as Powerball.
Sites like The Lotter and Play USA Lotteries give people from all over the world a chance to pick their lucky numbers and get involved with Powerball, Mega Millions, Oz Powerball, and EuroMillions. Those looking to take a crack at one of these huge jackpots can thus do so from the comfort of their own homes as everything is done online.