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US Powerball lottery players are getting very
excited. Nobody won the Powerball top prize
last Saturday (19 August) and the estimated
jackpot for Wednesday's game exceeded $51 million,
with the cash option a staggering $23.3 million.
Unfortunately, no one won the Wednesday game
either, and that means the Powerball draw for
this Saturday is attracting frenzied ticket-buyers
in droves.
Powerball is played in 29 states as well as
in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District
of Columbia. It is a lotto game which has both
a jackpot and cash components. Five white balls
are drawn from a possible 55, and one red ball
is drawn from a possible 42. There are nine
ways to win, as follows:
Match five white balls and the
red ball.......... Jackpot
Match five white balls...............................
$200,000
Match four white balls and the red ball.......
$ 10,000
Match four white balls....................................
$ 100
Match three white balls and the red ball..........
$ 100
Match three white balls......................................
$ 7
Match two white balls and the red ball................
$ 7
Match one white ball and the red ball.................
$ 4
Match the red ball.............................................
$ 3
Jackpot winners get to choose between a lump
sum payment or a larger prize paid out in thirty
annual instalments. Winners have up to sixty
days to choose which option they want to take.
All other prizes apart from the jackpot are
paid in cash, and the odds of winning any prize
are around 1 in 37.
Powerball players can take advantage of a "Power
Play" option which allows them to multiply
any non-jackpot prize by 2, 3, 4 or 5 times.
It is therefore possible to win a cool million
by hitting the $200,000 prize and having it
multiplied 5 times. It obviously costs more
to Power Play, but it's an option that is very
popular with Powerball players all over the
US.
With ticket-buying for this Saturday's game
expected to continue increasing right up to
the last possible minute, the US Powerball will
be on everyone's lips this weekend. If you know
someone in the states, why not ask them to buy
a ticket on your behalf and agree to split the
proceeds if you happen to get lucky?
24 August 2006
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