Powerball Jackpot Soars To $800 Million As States See Strong Sales
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — The record Powerball jackpot just got bigger, climbing to a whopping $800 million as sales soared in the days leading up to the drawing.
Lottery officials said the Multi-State Lottery Association on Friday raised the estimated jackpot for Saturday night's drawing from $700 million because of strong sales.
Officials said Powerball sales on Thursday were double the previous record for that day and it's possible the estimated jackpot could rise again before the drawing.
A winner would have the option of being paid $800 million through annual payments over 29 years or opting for $496 million in cash.
As CBS2's Meg Bakrer reported, the winner could take home at least $329-million after taxes, depending on the state.
"This is the one that's going to go down in history and I hope I'm a part of it," said James Ruiack.
Like so many people, Pete and his coworkers at John Jay College have an office pool going in the hopes of claiming at least some of the jackpot, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported. He said they have one designated person to hold onto the tickets.
"(Schuck: Do you trust him?) Absolutely," he said. "(Schuck: What if he has the ticket, he wins and disappears?) There would be no safe place on Earth for him to hide."
No one matched the numbers drawn for Wednesday night's estimated $500 million jackpot. There were several Match 5 $1 million winners, including one in New York and another in Connecticut.
Cynthia Nichols is also hoping Saturday is her lucky day, CBS2's Meg Baker reported.
"I was playing every day since 1984. Then I realized I've invested probably over a million dollars," she said.
Now, she only plays when it's big -- and this grand prize meets that criteria.
So what's the best strategy for winning? Richard Lustig has won big jackpots seven different times.
"If you play your own numbers, play them regularly. Every time you lose, you gain a little advantage in the next drawing," he said.
The odds are with you, and it also worked for Betty Perine.
"Oh my God, I won another $4; that never happens," she said. "It was the numbers that I picked myself because whenever I did Quick Pick, I never won."
No one has won the Powerball's top prize since Nov. 4.
It's easy to sum up your chances of winning Saturday's huge Powerball jackpot -- slim to none. The math whizzes put the odds of winning at more than one in 292 million. Jeffrey Miecznikowski, a statistical expert at the University at Buffalo, says that's like flipping a quarter and getting heads 28 times in a row. In other words, forget it. Scott A. Norris, an assistant professor of mathematics at Southern Methodist University, has one tip.
He says let the computer pick rather than choosing the numbers yourself. That's because when people use birthdates or other favorite figures, they generally choose numbers 31 or below. That ignores the fact that there are 69 numbered balls.
A winning ticket opens the door to extravagance. You could use it to buy an island off of Fiji for $2.5-million if you take the cash payout in New York.
If you prefer to stay local you could live large in a Manhattan loft for $26.5-million, you could even buy twelve of them.
Escaping the city to a new country home in Greenwich will cost $8.5-million, or you can spend $32,5-million on a house in South Hampton.
With cash left over you'll want to fill up your garage too, how about 138 Bugattis? You could pass them out to family and friends.
"This Lamborghini is a little less expensive, half-a-million dollars, but it's also very exclusive, only thirty-five int he country, only yellow one on the east coast," Walter D'Urso, Manhattan Motorcars explained.
If you like the water it may be convenient to have a boat.
The Sea Ray Sun Dancer, a 50-ft yacht goes for $1.6-million. That was just one of the endless ideas at the New York Boat Show.
"This is our new adventure boat, 44-ft boat designed to take out your family, your kids, wake boards, jet skis, go out and spend the day," John Armbruster said.
Sports fans can get club level season tickets to the Giants for 16,000 of their closest friends.
But, be careful, a study found that 44 percent of lottery winners spend their winnings withing five years.
The previous record was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot won in March 2012.
Powerball is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Lottery officials said in the last 13 years, 16 Powerball jackpot winners bought their tickets in Pennsylvania -- more winners than any other state.
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