Someone’s life will be indelibly changed this evening if the person is lucky enough to match five numbers from 1-69, and one number from 1-26, to the five white balls and single red ball that will be drawn just before 11 p.m.
If that occurs, the second-largest lottery jackpot of all time could be awarded tonight.
Tonight’s Powerball jackpot is expected to eclipse $700 million, which would make it the second-largest jackpot in US lottery history, according to Fox News, which listed the 10 largest US jackpots in lottery history on its website:
- $1.6 billion, Powerball, January 13, 2016
- $656 million, Mega Millions, March 30, 2012
- $648 million, Mega Millions, December 17, 2013
- $590.5 million, Powerball, May 18, 2013
- $587.5 million, Powerball, November 28, 2012
- $564.1 million, Powerball, February 11, 2015
- $536 million, Mega Millions, July 8, 2016
- $487 million, Powerball, July 30, 2016
- $448.4 million, Powerball, August 7, 2013
- $447.8 million, Powerball, June 10, 2017
Seven hundred million is a lot of money, but should tonight’s winner decide to forego annual payments, the one-time payment amount will be around $443 million.
Powerball tickets cost $2 and can be purchased for tonight’s drawing until 9:45 p.m.
The Michigan slump
It’s been a while since a Michigander won the Powerball jackpot — Julie Leach won $310.5 million on Sept. 30, 2015 — but with tonight’s jackpot eclipsing $700 million there will be a lot of tickets purchased at retail lottery locations throughout the state, as well as online through the Michigan Lottery’s online website.
Assuming there aren’t more than two winning tickets, it would also be the largest lottery prize ever awarded in Michigan. The current record belongs to Donald Lawson, who won a $337 million Powerball jackpot on Aug. 15, 2012, according to TV6.
Expect plenty of last minute online ticket buys
Michigan is one of only four states that sells lottery tickets online, which should increase the number of tickets purchased for tonight’s drawing, particularly as more tickets are sold throughout the day and the size of the jackpot rises.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see a lot of last-minute online buys as the hours tick down to the 10:59 p.m. drawing.
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