Powerball Increases To 1.4 Billion
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OMAHA, Neb. (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - The Powerball jackpot has risen to a new record high. According to the Texas Lottery, the jackpot is now up to 1.4 billion. The prize was already the world's largest before lottery officials increased it Monday. And the jackpot could grow even more before Wednesday's drawing if ticket sales remain intense. Lottery officials review the estimate daily.
The jackpot rose to an estimated $1.3 billion after nobody won on Saturday night.
"Biggest jackpot in the history of the world. Absolutely confirmed," Texas Lottery executive director Gary Grief said when the jackpot was estimated at $1.3 billion.
The jackpot is so big that billboards in Texas and around the country have to advertise the price as $999 million because they're not built to show billions. The lottery computers will handle the decimal point without a problem.
"We've never been at these levels," said Grief, whose state lottery is part of the Multi-State Lottery Association that runs Powerball.
The odds to win are one in 292.2 million. Seventy-five percent of all the possible combinations were purchased before Saturday's drawing, Grief said, and he expects that enough tickets will be sold to cover about 80 percent by Wednesday. About 95 percent of Powerball tickets have computer-generated numbers.
"I've been in the industry over 20 years, and I've seen jackpots hit when we hardly have any of the potential numbers covered -- like 5 percent of the possible combinations covered. And I've seen other jackpots when we've had 95 percent of the combinations covered and it rolls," Grief said.
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