What are your chances of winning the Powerball jackpot?
Story at a glance
- The Powerball jackpot is up to a record $1.6 billion.
- You're more likely to get struck by lightning or flip a coin and get heads 28 times in a row than to win this Powerball fortune.
- If no one wins Saturday's drawing, it will tie the record for the most consecutive days passed without a grand prize winner for the game.
The Powerball jackpot has reached a new record of $1.6 billion, surpassing the previous sum of $1.586 billion won by three lucky individuals in 2016.
But the odds of winning this fortune are slim at just 1 in 292 million.
In comparison, the odds of finding a four leaf clover are around 1 in 10,000 while the odds of getting struck by lightning are less than one in a million.
You’re also more likely to flip a coin and get heads 28 times in a row than you are to win the Powerball jackpot.
The next drawing is scheduled for Saturday night.
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The jackpot’s total is so high because it’s been over three months since the last drawing. On Aug. 3, one ticket sold in Pennsylvania won the $206.9 million total. Powerball jackpots have only surpassed $1 billion once before.
If no winner is announced Saturday, it will tie the record for the most consecutive days passed without a grand prize winner for the game.
The cash value for the $1.6 billion jackpot comes out to around $782 million, marking the fifth largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history.
Though some stores are reporting higher ticket sales thanks to the large prize, the lottery has gone so long without a winner due to lower sales overall.
Compared with five or six years ago, fewer people are buying tickets, shrinking the percentage of possible number combinations covered.
For example, during the last drawing for a jackpot of over $1 billion, around 47 percent of the possible 292.2 million possible number combinations were covered, Fortune reports.
There’s little one can do to increase the chances of winning the lottery. Buying more tickets increases the odds slightly, but also raises up front costs, while going in on a pool means the total may have to be divided among others.
Winners can receive the prize in a lump sum or paid out in installments over 29 years.