Powerball jackpot soars to $1.4 Billion
By: Melissa Randall
@MRandallABC6
Did you get your ticket yet? It’s the billion dollar question- $1.4 billion to be exact. With no winner over the weekend the Powerball jackpot again soared to a new high.
Rhode Island-ers are already day dreaming about what they would do with all that cash.
Just think of what you could do with all that money.
“I’d set my family up and enjoy life a little bit more,” said Shannon Brown of Jamestown.
“New car, new home, my grandkids college and all that,’ said Richard Lucas of Providence.
But first someone has to win.
“Keep [the winning ticket] in a safe place because obviously that ticket is the most important thing– you need that ticket to claim the prize,” said Melissa Juhnowski, RI Lottery spokesperson.
The prize has been growing since November, and is now so big that billboards can’t contain it.
Literally. The signs max out at 999 Million.
The lack of a winner, though, is surprising especially since 78% of all the possible combinations were covered. The lottery did add more numbers to the game in October. Now some people are asking ‘is it too hard to win’?
“I don’t think so,” said Juhnowski.
She says the change was made to ensure bigger payouts.
“The jackpot was getting hit so frequently at lower levels and players didn’t really want that,” she said.
The lump sum for Wednesday’s record setting drawing is a staggering $868 M. The chances of winning it are just one in 292 million.
Despite the odds Rhode island–ers have come to play. More than $3.6 M worth tickets were sold for the last game. Even more are expected to be bought this time.
In fact, one consumer finance group says people in RI bought more tickets per person than anywhere else in the country. More than 72,000 residents cashed in for $436,000 during Saturday’s drawing alone. Not a bad investment on that $2 ticket.
Retailers in the state, too, are making out during all the Powerball fever. They get 8 percent commission for every ticket sold or 16 cents. Already they’ve racked up a quarter million dollars.
© WLNE-TV 2016
