I have a feeling that the jackpot will be won tonight!

900 million............ oh my god,  it's getting so close to a billion!

 Maybe I'll get just a couple more.

06-40-43-46-61 + 17
01-02-24-30-55 + 04
13-45-52-62-69 + 02
09-47-62-64-67 + 02
12-32-53-60-63 + 17
10-20-21-54-66 + 20
10-33-45-47-63 + 09
08-16-25-39-50 + 22
13-34-51-55-63 + 18
09-28-38-43-57 + 14
08-20-29-43-49 + 04
20-27-30-38-61 + 02
25-26-35-41-46 + 12
02-04-26-29-41 + 07
20-29-48-63-66 + 17
13-39-41-64-69 + 17
22-29-53-61-68 + 22
10-19-36-43-48 + 01
16-26-40-52-67 + 21
09-30-37-39-60 + 07
04-13-28-44-67 + 07
05-07-17-27-41 + 20
02-11-13-47-53 + 09
31-47-50-53-66 + 11
06-12-48-49-52 + 22
14-18-21-39-40 + 12
08-18-19-26-49 + 22
04-14-35-40-60 + 14
10-32-49-50-55 + 17
05-21-23-68-69 + 12
04-10-35-36-46 + 26
01-30-40-50-61 + 20
02-08-44-62-64 + 11
21-26-31-44-64 + 17
07-12-25-27-39 + 12
02-14-32-53-57 + 02
17-28-32-39-47 + 21
01-16-35-39-45 + 10
28-33-35-59-61 + 23
14-27-40-55-66 + 01
04-16-29-43-66 + 03
11-19-45-51-69 + 01
09-35-39-41-68 + 18
03-32-54-60-63 + 21
18-24-51-52-62 + 08
10-16-37-46-48 + 15
03-11-14-44-47 + 23
02-40-42-56-69 + 20
20-29-42-57-67 + 19
08-24-33-42-56 + 03

Me too!  Just a few more. 

Running out to buy an AED Defibrillator and place it next to me as I check my numbers, just in case.   

Good Luck All!!!!!!!!!!!! 

$900 million- that number is scary good.  Gonna be won by a LP member- just watch! 

Its not going to roll over because I am taking this one tonight. However, let's hypotheticaly say it does roll over...could it reach 2 billion?

7 more days until my Birthday, what a great gift to me, lol

Lol

One ticket 

One winner

With the high number of tickets sold, there will be at least one winner and probably more than one winner.

One more thing is also guaranteed: many lottery websites will be have very slow response or will be inaccessible tonight around 11pm to midnight or 1am EST

Hi Todd, thanks for another great article! Incidentally, in third paragraph I noticed an error -- please remove the word "graduated." 

Kudos, I'm ready to claim this most exciting yet jackpot this week.

Why would I remove that word?  That's exactly how the payments are made.  They increase each year.

If you're weren't aware of that, go to the Jackpot Analysis page at USA Mega and click the Annuity Payment Schedule link next to your state.

specially if I get that single ticket winner

Should I purchase an extra ticket?

Sure, if you have an extra $2, this month, why not?

I'm headed out to buy a couple more lines myself here in a few minutes.  Just a couple.  Gotta save some money in case it rolls over. 

....with 10 more hours of purchasing to go. 

 I predict 6 winners.

I'm predicting 6 winners!!!

I like 7

Lets hope I'm 1 of them.

Good luck to everyone on LP tonight!

It's gonne ba a jungle in the nations 7-11s and gas stations.

OH...OH....OH..OH...OH...OH...OH...OH....OH.....OH.....          STOP! (PAUSE) HAMMER TIMER!!   

HIGHER LOTTERY JACKPOTS=HIGHER LOTTERY SALES.

at best, three ticket jackpot holders. 1 will be a motley gang who worked in a factory. The other two holders will be one hit wonders, who on a whim got a ticket. 

I'll go so far as to say the pb will be #6, or #26.

How ironic it would be if a office pool of tax collectors won lol.

Yes, Thanks be to the Fire Departments, Police, Ambulances, Sheriffs, State Police, US Judicial department, and we can never forget our Armed Forces protecting America. Sometimes these are thankless jobs that are not recognized the way they should be.

 May I include some politicians who are not thanked and recognized.

 I forgot Nurses, Doctors, Psychiatrists, Counselors,

 I might as well say,"God Bless America"!

There's about a 78 percent chance there will be a winner tonight with close to 429 million tickets sold.

OH MY..... what can I say ????? YAHOOO !!!!

sully16, Is your birthday January 16th? What a wonderful birthday present this could be for you! You would make all LP Members proud to be here on this site with you. 

 My birthday is January 22,

Somebody wrote about Marie Holmes winning this one. I think there will be riots in that case.

The lottery seems to projecting, at this point, $741M in sales, the number of tickets being sold being half that, to produce a $900M jackpot.

The Poisson distribution for this number of tickets sold, assuming random generation of tickets, produces the following probabilities for numbers of winners:

Although a single winner is the single most probable outcome, followed by a rollover, no single outcome outweighs the combined others.   Anything can happen.   There is a significant possibility that the game has now become a $450M (annuity) or a $300M (annuity) game for any winners.

As things proceed, a rollover becomes less and less likely, although not impossible.    (It is really very, very, very, unlikely that the entire field will be covered as the target for unchosen numbers becomes smaller.)

The expectation value, because of the possibility of smaller jackpot prizes being awarded because of a larger number of winners, is now 0.85, pretax cash basis.

These calculations don't take multiple identical/duplicate entries into account, correct?

Powerplay should be 10x today. I dont care about the jackpot anymore, second tier will be great for me

You guys do know if it's just 1 winner the media so going to do this outside to the winners neighborhood right?

-  Well, obviously we have the media out in Lincoln Park. Their knocking on your doors, snatchin’ your people up, tryin’ to interview ‘em. So y’all need to hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husband cause they’re interviewing’ everybody out here.

btw Todd, how prepared are you for the flood of heavy traffic happening later tonight? 

- Todd's servers this evening.

I hope someone wins this big jackpot tonight.

No matter if the powerplay is 10x, the 2nd tier will still only be 2 million.

Happy Early Birthday and good luck to you.

Hopefully someone will post the numbers after the drawing. I'm fairly certain Powerball's website will crash.

Also, the 10x powerplay is only applicable to jackpots at or below $150 million.

USA mega, the sister site to LP is always on the money with positing timely results and it can handle the traffic. Todd works around the clock on a normal day so I can only imagine how hard he is working now. 

THANKS TODD FOR ALL YOU DO!

I'm going to do all I can do to keep Lottery Post and USA Mega up and responsive.  Expect at the very least some slowness as millions of people hit the sites all at once.

Thank-you Todd for your accurate and up-to-the-minute Lottery News!

Whenever I see the name Todd Northrop in an article about The Lottery, whether at Lottery Post or, elsewhere, I always read the article because I know the information will be both informative and, accurate!

Thanks again Todd!

 This makes me smile, thanks!

While everyone was hee hawing i said first on Wednesday January 6th 1:20pm in the threads hours before last Wednesdays powerball draw that went to 524 million that it would hit a billion dollars on Saturday the 9th with no winner.  Don't hee haw people.  Take a stand early and make a prediction right or wrong.  Early bird gets the worm.

While im 1 for 1 lets make another early prediction.  No one will win tonight.  It will roll to 1.6 billion for next Wednesday nights draw and a single ticket will win it all at that time.

Good luck and may one of us win it all.  If we do lets do Todd a favor and wear one of his lotterypost t-shirts/tank tops to the press conference! 

While we are all having delusions of grandeur right now let me go all the way with it.  If i win the press conference will be held at the "TRUMP HOTEL LAS VEGAS".  The press conference table will be for seven people.  Dad, Mom, Brother, Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, Todd, and Me of course!   

Todd you in?

I know that, i just think will be nice to win 500k for 4+PB

Sounds like fun, I'm in.

No hee-hawing, I promise.

Though the hard data involved isn't presented, since it was established to be based on sales, repeat tickets would seem to be within the parameters.  This is verified through the percentage calculations of possible multiple winners.  Without accountable multiple entries a multiple winner scenario could not exist.  Just my observation, however.

If nobody hits this tonight, it will be worth $1.3 billion dollars!!! The power ball folks who decided to change the number matrix must be giving themselves high fives for their decision.

Does anyone that lives in Orlando, know the time and the station, that televise the drawing??

I would leave the country so fast

I'm sure our local stations will be showing the draw live tonight, they did the last time the lotto jackpot was large.

Channel 6, 10:59

Also.....You can watch the drawing live on ClickOrlando.com. Download the free News 6 App to watch the drawing live.

I'm thinkin this won't roll.  As strong as sales are, probably EVERY number combination available has been sold.  I wonder how many winners there could be.  If birthday numbers are drawn I wouldn't be shocked to see up to 25 jackpot winners.

9 hours to go.

Yes, a big thank you to Todd for all the hard work he puts in.

I noticed that the Lotter site has been down for almost 24 hours now. 

Quite possibly they can't handle all the sales coming their way.

I  just read a yahoo article, saying I would only take jome 255 million and usamega said 300 and something. How do I calculate lump sum after taxes?

Based on lines I'm seeing where there are normally none, they may raise this to $1,000,000,000.00 PRIOR to the drawing....we shall see!

Yes they do.   The show the probabilities of various numbers of winners assuming a randomized sampling, and the expectation value is weighted for the size of the prizes that would be won by multiple winners.

https://www.usamega.com/powerball-jackpot.asp

Go to a tax estimator and fill in your info for a quick estimate.  I like turbotax myself.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/

The Billboard along the highway now reads "OVER 900 Million"

I just bought my last 2 tickets at noon at Albertson's.  Nobody was at the machines at all.  I glanced over to the customer service desk and there was only one person.  Dunno if he was buying Powerballs or not.  No fever in Idaho!

65% chance there will be a winner tonight

Looks like your not the only one, I"m reading an article with Twitter posts and many cannot get in.

That site is on overdrive!

I just checked for funsies. The site is up but the option to play Powerball for this historical drawing has closed.

I'm not a tax lawyer/CPA, but I just take the cash value and multiply it by .604 (the inverse of .396) to account for federal taxes. I don't have a state tax, so $558 million is worth $337 million to me. The "25% federal withholding" is just how much they take out, you still have to pay the rest of it yourself, meaning the check will come for $418.5 million and I'll have to write another check to the IRS for $81.5 million or so.

Yeah, deductions can reduce that, but lottery winners lose up to 80% of deductions (including for charity) because of something called the Pease limitation. There's no limit on gambling losses against wins, though, so if I lose $1m playing blackjack at Caesars Palace the IRS gives me $396,000 in a break, but if I give $1m to a charity I get $79,200. Again, not a lawyer/CPA, but it seems like you should do charity because you want to, not for the tax break.

hmm so right now saw about a 75-80% chance of a winner and 1.3B to start if it rolls

ANNUITY ALL THE WAY BAAAAAABYYYYYY!  lol.  She will roll.  Wednesday is the big day, not today, not today.

NO WAY this will roll!  Unthinkable!

I'd love to see it.

I think Steve Harvey should announce the winner of this!

Oh boy... if it rolled... I would not want to be a clerk selling tickets to all the maniacs the next few days.

Yes, I examine that jackpot analysis, often.

And, I'm so glad to be living  near to a no-lotto-tax state, where I go to play.

My lame heavy-lotto tax state, rarely gets my business anymore.

Oh No!

I don't think he'd be allowed.

I "think" you would still owe state taxes because its based on where you live when you win.  I'm no CPA so take it for what its worth.

Please, don't even joke about a thing like that.
That's so ludicrous.  If that were the case, there'd be riots outside of every 7/11 and Circle K store.

Please, Folks, chime in.  I don't want to be known as the "billionaire lotto winner", and only have 300 to my name.  Though I'm positive I won't win anything significant tonight.

(and probably the state capitol building too)

You get to dream the same dream for $2 with one ticket that someone who buys 1,000 tickets.

The only thing is, after the both of you find out you didn't win, you say oh well, there's always next time. While the person who spent $2,000 on tickets says...Oh SH*T, how am I going to pay my (rent, mortgage, car payment, credit card payments...etc)

Play with your head....Not over it.

No apparent lotto fever in Idaho?

WOW!

What does happen in Idaho, besides potatoes?

A lot of people are saying that, but they either have absolutely no idea how many combinations will be sold or they have a really funny idea of "no way", "won't", "incredibly unlikely" or most of the terms being used. Even if it hits a billion 20% of combinations will still be unsold. That means we should expect at least a 1 in 5 chance that it will roll again.

The part that puzzles me the most is people thinking there's so little chance of another roll when it's still several million times more likely than them having a winning ticket.

No joke ... Most folks would clear around 300 million after taxes if taking the lump sum.

MUSL may be overestimating sales. We'll see tonight. Unlike some in-state lotteries, MUSL does not honor its estimates. At least they didn't back in 2013 when they touted a $600 million annuity Powerball jackpot, and yet the Florida winner was only awarded ~$590 million...

Most didn't notice that deception. However, this time around, if MUSL raises the estimate to $1 billion and only pays out, say $940 million, many will notice that, and talk about it; some feeling cheated. Hopefully, MUSL is extra careful before raising the estimate again to $1 billion.

That is why they say...The estimated annuitized jackpot is....

That way it can go either way, higher or lower.

But, that's such a doggone rip-off.  Why should over half go to taxes.

Generational wealth... good luck my fellow members

Good luck to you too.

Didn't she take the lump sum anyway?

As my Favorite 80's band Europe would say it........"It's the Final Countdown"  Good luck everyone!

Europe - The Final Countdown

That's a good point.

(but "meatman"?  What is he a butcher, or something)

Will it be ?????

Too doggone funny.

Putting "estimated" or an asterisk may be sufficient, but not necessarily in regards to deceptive advertising. Worse, not all Powerball jackpot advertising even includes those elements...

For example, see NY Lottery website. http://nylottery.ny.gov/ - "NEXT JACKPOT: $900 MILLION". Notice what's not included next to the $900 million. No "estimate", no asterisk, nothing. At first glance, it appears the Powerball jackpot is definitely $900 million. And that's just one example out of many.

What happens in Idaho stays in Idaho.

Mainly because happenings are so dang boring that you can't pay someone to even listen to you tell about what happened, let alone spread gossip about what happened.

Quick illustration.  For NYE Idaho has a potato drop.  Yes, we molded a humongous <snip> potato out of foam rubber and at the stroke of midnight it drops off a crane or something while everyone cheers.

Over half doesn't go to taxes.

You get the estimated amount only if you take the annuity. If you take lump sum, you get a one-time cash payment of what the lottery would have invested on your behalf to generate the annuitized value over 29 years.

Federal tax of 25% and part of the state taxes is withheld from the payment. When you file your 1040 tax form, you will have to pay the difference. That would be 14.6% (federal maximum tax of 39.6% - 25% which was deducted from payment) plus remaining state and or local taxes.

Any way you look at it, you will end up with about 51-60.4% of whichever payment method you choose.

Hot Idaho girls flirting with you.

Greetings ...

BTW -- This is my very post as a Lottery Post member

I'm hoping that those wanting to see a super-humongous single winning ticket will have a wicked curve thrown at them tonite. In what way, you ask?

Simple -- let there be at least 10 winning tickets and possibly as many as 20 winners when it's all done. Of course, I'd like to be one of those 10 to 20 lucky winners.

I'm sure that other posters have posted up sound advice for those lucky enough to win all or a part of the PowerBall Grand Prize elsewhere, but if not minded I think it's only fair to give it out again.

If you win --

»1» Don't tell anyone other than your legal and financial advisors. If you're part of an office pool or family group who are sharing the winning ticket with you, then they are the only non-legal folks who need to know

»2» Establish a legal trust (either for yourself alone or with those mutually agreeing to share the prize). In many states, a trust may help to to keep you (and others) anonymous, thus protecting your identity. Of course you should always  check out the specific rules in play for the state where you are claiming your winning ticket.

»3» Spend no more than 10% (less than that would be great) of your after taxes share within the first year. At least 65% of what is not spent should go into special reserve accounts, while at least 35% of what is not spent should go into a cash flow account. The purpose of the cash flow account is to place a fixed amount of money into regular bank accounts each month. Your lifestyle should be simple, non-extravagant  and a rigidly fixed flow of cash should help keep you on a straight and narrow path.

That's about it.
Thanx-A-Lot and best of luck to all,
Frank0Sport16

Inquiring minds are wondering if Marie Holmes is blowing the rest of her Mega Millions winnings in an effort to win Powerball?!

If you take the lump sum, they take 25% out in taxes before you even get it, then the following April, it's something like another 15%, provided you live in a state with no taxes or one that doesn't tax lottery winnings and provided you're the only winner, you come home with roughly $355,725,000. I don't know about anyone else, but I wouldn't complain.

My birthday is in January as well.

 Texas lottery official said the "billion" word. Gary Grief has said on CNN with Poppy Harlow that if it rolls then a conservative estimate would be $1.3 Billion dollars for Wednesday night. I think he is being too conservative. I guess that is normal for lottery officials.

 I will not be surprised if tonight we are playing for a billion.

Anyone still think the matrix change was a bad idea?

Howdy Frank

Wicked curve ball at all those dreamers?  Ouch Frank

So it's simple- can you back that up with some facts and figures... 10-20 seems kinda high to me

WOW!!!!$900 million !!!! 

Keep waiting for Todd to announce it has gone to $1 Billion.  Maybe they won't allow since all the LED signs I've seen in surrounding states only have three spots available!

My birthday is the 21st.

And the winner is Eddie Tipton, lol

I hate deceptive advertising. But, I may not think it's too impossible.

When I think of all the people betting tonight, losing sleep over how much they'll play, thinking about the food they're taking of their kids mouths, etc. (I have no kids).

I got my tickets, and I don't even know how many. I got enough to make me feel guilty, and still left believing/knowing I won't win a dime.

So, why do I do it?  That's the question.

Because, it's the biggest thing going on today! 
Nothing compares to this event, this evening, at 11:00 PM Eastern Time.

This is History.  I've never been part of a historical thing. 

Remember to save your tickets, tonight, if they're not significant winners.
Or, at least remember to ask for a receipt.  It should be worth something on ebay some day.

 The winner will need to ask the IRS about "estimated quarterly tax payments". This is a common tax payment by businesses. The amounts will be incredible.

 BDUB211, I agree with your figure of $355,725,000.00 Lump Sum for this $900 million jackpot.

I  think some people look at the size of the current jackpot and think that number of tickets was sold in the current drawing. The odds are 1 in 292+million. 10 people won't beat those odds. I say 6 at best.

Happy Birthday.

That does it, if I win this jackpot tonight I was planning to change my name to remain anonymous.  My new name WILL be Eddie Tipton.

Sully, now that is funny AND scary, all at the same time! Good one though. Good Luck to you tonight.

I had a long day. I got up at 4:30 and drove down across the Florida line to play 10 lines of Florida Lotto for 20 draws. Then drove home to South Carolina. I stopped at my favorite store to load up on Mega and PB. The Travelintrucker is officially in the 900 Mil jackpot draw tonight. Good luck players!

Who Gloria? She was 84 years old, she had to take the lump sum lol

Is that any relation to Glenn Tipton, guitarist of Judas Priest?

"By early Saturday afternoon, officials with the lottery calculated that tickets were selling, on average, at a pace of more than $7,700 a second, or almost $28 million an hour."

Cut and Paste from NY Times article today

Good luck Mr. Travelin'Trucker,

I know what it's like to have to drive that big 18 wheeler. I hated it. I'd rather be rich too.

Bought myself a few more lines from machine ($10) all QP

So I am playing overall one line of my #'s and six QP... As for tax discussion at end of day you will still be filthy rich if you win so just hire some good advisors and keep you head on straight after win and you should be more then set for life

All I would want is a home (800k-1M) and to take care of my family (Parents/Brother/Sister + Her Husband) and a few select extended family and then I would be happy man

It would be great to never have to worry about $ again

Good luck to everyone!  im still  holding out for 1 or more winners from LP.

Wondering if I should grab another ticket or 2? I have 5

Hilarious! I Liked your NeNe Leakes post too!

So the ULTIMATE QUESTION HERE IS...

IF I BUY A $2 TICKET... .... ........

WILL I WIN?

Curious if you match 5 numbers and win 1M ,, Is that the actual value of prize or is the actual cash value lower like in scratch off game (Say for instance 670k) and then after taxes you end up with well under half mil?

Or is that 1M the actual prize and after taxes you end up with 650k or so?

I think it's a great idea!

Good luck to all the players,my husband ask me if I played..I said no in TENN. he said good girl...I hope there is multy winners.

Who said she had any left?

If you win $1 million, you will get maybe 380k after taxes as a lump sum. Maybe around 600k or something if you take the annuity.

Billion dollar jackpot come draw time.

Let's make a LP LP. (Lottery Post Lottery Pool)

That way we'll all win if someone wins...

That seems to be the big question.

Especially with the 900 mil.

I don't believe some of the opinions coming this way.

But, you could for instance look at California's payouts on a typical win, and judge from that? maybe?

I agree with this motion.   The LPLP.

Anyone else?

(there are so many little things I want to get. Like a Jeep, for one)

It would bust your bubble if she won again 

I agree!

You said:

"If you take lump sum, you get a one-time cash payment of what the lottery would have invested on your behalf to generate the annuitized value over 29 years."

I'm confused because:

1) I thought that if the winner took the one-time lump sum payment, they got what was in the JP from players that bought tickets, which is what builds the JP.

2) I thought the annuity payments included the estimated JP, which of course includes the interest earned over 29 years AND the ticket sales.

What I'm asking is this:

Why would the one-time lump-sum payment consist of the interest from the annuity payments, instead of the amount collected from the actual ticket sales?

What you said above just doesn't make sense to me. (I'm not saying you are wrong) I'm just confused, as I thought I understood the JP payout(s) as I just explained.

Thanks and Good Luck tonight!

actual amount

I don't care what I owe in taxes!!!?? It would be more than what I started my day with!

Yes, I agree.  But everyone must pay taxes.
Don't neglect your taxes. Take care of your tax
situation asap.


Leave nothing out there, that could cause a snag.

Joe, you're thinking of it backwards. The cash value isn't determined by the annuity value. The annuity value is determined by the cash value.

If they bump it I'm buying 2 more tickets, 1 cash option, 1 annuity just so I can have a ticket that says $1,000,000,000.

Good luck to all tonight!

I think she won Powerball not Mega Millions

Thank You

So if you mach 5 after taxes you still come out with decent chunk (650k or so)

Obviously not enough to quit working/etc but more then enough to buy a small home and get some financial stability short term

Depends on state tax what you'd get for five #'s; however that is a good ballpark figure.  I'd pay the house off and quit my job since I get an Army pension anyway for incidentals.  Good luck

Ok I got my tickets, I have my plans together for the next few days. I know how much my parents and siblings get. I'm ready!

"If birthday numbers are drawn I wouldn't be shocked to see up to 25 jackpot winners."  That's why it's best not to play birthdays are anniversaries numbers, you will be sharing the jackpot if others win.   Better to get Q-Picks.

If you powerplay... You could win 2 million in that scenario...

I gave in a bought some more tickets today.

I wonder if Bill Gates or Warren Buffet thinks this billion is "chump-change."   Anyone want to change their name to "Chump"?

   I spent $12 on the Powerball tickets. I just want to pay off my debts and those of my loved ones (student loans, medical bills, credit cards) just to be free from debt. If I could be lucky to be the sole winner, who knows, it might happen.Spending the money on expensive items will not be a priority of mine .Thinking on how to invest the money properly and being able to go back to school to further my education and becoming comfortably self-employed/employer would be a dream of mine.

   To everyone who has a negative connotation about taxes, I sympathise with you and, understand your complaints but, think about it, this is a TITANIC lottery jackpot ,while many do not necessarily agree about the taxes being taken off of the lump sum, the take home amount does outweigh the investment, provided it is an investment that you are comfortable to part with. Good Luck to all and who knows, we might get to the desired  $1 billion mark before tonight's draw.

You are joining the lottery pool right?

The winner will not be a billionaire unless the pot is a least 1.7 billion  ..

And you got jokes Ha Ha.  Even with his mistake, Steves got more money than you would ever dream of, and is invited back to host it next year.   

Get over yourself & focus on getting the powerball numbers right or clock in on Monday morning like the rest of us.  Now at that.

Glad I don't live in ILL & win.  Wow I'll hate to win an later get a IOU   LMAO.

If you don't buy any tickets, you are 100% guaranteed not to win anything!

Got to be in it to win it! 

I don't care if half go to taxes.  I only paid $2.00.   "I didn't wake up this morning a millionary did you?"    I'll take 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 right now.  Even 500,000  would suit me fine lol.   I'm not greedy lol.

"What you said"     Can't win if you don't play.

It's a $1 million cash prize for 5 numbers without the Powerball number.

Then you have to pay taxes on the $1 million, so you end up with anywhere from 60.4% to roughly 51% of the $1 mil after taxes depending on the state you live in.

If I won the jackpot, I'd keep 10 milllion and donate the other 890 (minus taxes) to random people.

So True

Hi Nice to meet you. My name is Random.

Whoever won mega last night, flying under the radar....lol

was thinking the same thing!

There is no annuity offered for prize levels 2-9 only for the jackpot.

If you win second prize of $1 million for matching the 5 numbers without the powerball, you get $1 million in cash before taxes are taken out.

Right I was thinking it would be like winning a million on a scratch off.