$500 Million Dollar Power Ball Jackpot

January 6, 2016 4:02 pm

By Ana Bottary

abottary@abc6.com

@anabottary

People across the country are hoping luck is on their side Wednesday night as the winning numbers of the $500 million Power Ball Jackpot is announced. Paul Labby is one of those people, taking his shot at a life-changing amount of money.

"I would definitely go some place warm and enjoy my retirement," says Labby.

Labby, along with many others, rushed down to Vista Donuts in Attleboro to grab their tickets, and not just because it’s close to home.

"They come here because they know we always give out big winners here, so they call us the lucky place," says Rita Laporte, who works at Vista Donuts.

In 2014 they gave out more than $4 million in winnings. Wednesday’s jackpot began at $450 million, but that quickly rose to $500 million–a dollar amount many cannot even imagine.

Putting things into perspective, winning the jackpot could get you views of the entire city by purchasing a pent house at the Residences of Providence. Now after buying that, you’d still have more than $470 million. But the question is, what are your odds of this actually winning? Lead instructor at Mathnasium, Will Herern, crunched the numbers for us.

"It’s approximately 1 in 292 million. You stand a better chance of being struck by lightening, being elected president, all kinds of stuff like that," says Herern.

Now while the odds are steep, Herern says there are ways to help them. Choosing a quick pick may be the way to go.