UPDATE: Winning numbers for May 18 drawn at 10:59 p.m. ET are: 22, 10, 13, 14 and 52. The Powerball selected was 11. News of results/winners to follow.
All it takes is a couple of bucks and a dream to enter the Powerball lottery jackpot, which now stands at a whopping $600 million.
Tonight, one lucky winner, or winners, will find out if their hopes of being filthy rich will come true during the game's May 18 drawing.
Powerball officials say the jackpot has climbed to an estimated $600 million, making it the largest prize in the game's history and the world's second largest lottery prize, reports Reuters. The largest jackpot ever won occured last year in March when three winners from Illinois, Kansas and Maryland split a $656 million Mega Millions prize.
The astronomical odds of winning the Powerball jackpot, 1 in 175.2 million, is not deterring people from continuing to line up at gas stations and convenient stores to buy tickets. Since the last drawing on Wednesday, Lottery officials say the jackpot has grown by an estimated $236 million as more people have been purchasing the $2 tickets. The $2 tickets allow players to pick five numbers from 1 to 59, and a Powerball number from 1 to 35. The last jackpot was won on March 30, which means this lottery pot has been growing for about six weeks.
Because 80 percent of the possible combinations have been purchased, someone is almost sure to win the game's highest jackpot Saturday night since the majority of possible combinations of Powerball numbers are in play. Plus, the $600 million jackpot includes a $376.9 million cash option.
The numbers will be drawn on Saturday at 10:59 p.m. EDT in Tallahassee, Florida. You can watch it online here or check the Powerball website for the winning numbers.
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