Just days after someone hit the $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot, the nation’s other big lottery is drawing close to the $1 billion mark.
Powerball once again failed to draw a winner on Wednesday, meaning the grand prize for Saturday’s drawing currently stands at an estimated $935 million. The odds of winning that, though, are nearly as high.
Lottery officials say the chances of picking all five numbers and the Powerball are just 1 in 292,201,338. Those odds, however, won’t stop any regular lottery players and will be ignored by people who only play occasionally as the jackpot gets higher and higher.
The cash payout, should you win this week, stands at $449.7 million. After federal taxes, that number drops to $283,352,812, according to USMega.com. Depending on where you live and the tax rate of your state, that could fall as low as $243 million.
A $1 billion jackpot is nothing to sneeze at, but it is, in some ways, still fairly small potatoes for Powerball. In 2022, the jackpot for that lottery got as high as $2 billion.
Edwin Castro won that giant payday, but he might not be the person you want to emulate if you win. He quickly began buying up luxury real estate, purchasing a $25.5 million home in Hollywood Hills, California; a $4 million place near the gas station where he bought the winning ticket; and a $47 million house in another part of Los Angeles (along with a vintage Porsche 911).
Of course, if more than one person wins Saturday’s drawing, that jackpot will be cut into smaller portions—not that most people would complain about having to split that much cash.