Powerball jackpot.....500 million and growing!

[Deberg_1990]

Will you partake?



http://abcnews.go.com/Business/power...ry?id=17812739


The jackpot for Wednesday's Powerball drawing now stands at $500 million -- the richest Powerball pot ever -- and it's likely to get even sweeter.

"Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2," says Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman for the Iowa lottery. "We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots."

It's proved true. The total, she says, "has been taking huge jumps -- another $100 million since Saturday." (The most recent drawing, on Saturday night, produced no winning numbers.)

Until now, the biggest Powerball pot on record -- $365 million -- was won in 2006 by eight Lincoln, Neb., co-workers.

In Photos: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners

Lottery officials in Iowa, where Powerball is headquartered, have started getting phone calls from all around the world. "When it gets this big," says Neubauer, "we start getting inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money."

The answer she has to give them, she says, is: "Sorry, no. You have to buy a ticket in a member state from a licensed retail location."

About 80 percent of players don't choose their own Powerball number, opting instead for a computer-generated one.

Asked if there's anything players can do to improve their odds of winning, Neubauer says no -- apart from buying a ticket, of course.

Lottery officials put the odds of winning Wednesday's Powerball pot at one in 175 million, meaning you are 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award.

Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, provides additional perspective: You are three times more likely to die from a falling coconut, he says; seven times more likely to die from fireworks, "and way more likely to die from flesh-eating bacteria" (115 fatalities a year) than you are to win the Powerball lottery.

Segueing, then, from death to life, Garibaldi notes that even the best physicians, equipped with the most up-to-date equipment, can't predict the timing of a child's birth with much accuracy.

"But let's suppose, however, that your doctor managed to predict the day, the hour, the minute and the second your baby would be born," Garibaldi says. The doctor's uncanny prediction would be "at least 100 times" more likely than your winning Wednesday.

Even though he knows the odds all too well, Garibaldi says he'll usually play the lottery. "When it gets this big, I'll buy a couple of tickets. It's kind of exciting. You get this feeling of anticipation. You get to think about the fantasy."

So will he be purchasing two tickets for Wednesday's Powerball? "I can't," he tells ABC News. "I'm in California" -- one of eight states that doesn't offer Powerball.

[crazycoffey]

rainnman's idea seems less stressfull.

[Rain Man]

After taxes, we're talking roughly $200 million in take-home. I have a deal with a friend that we always split our Powerball winnings, so I'd end up with about $100 million.

I guaran-darn-tee that I would have the most diversified investment portfolio on the planet. The only way I would lose all of my money would involve a large meteor or the explosion of the sun.

[Abba-Dabba]

Yep, I paid my idiot tax.

[Rain Man]

I'd probably do something like this:

$20 million in income-producing real estate of the most conservative kind possible, scattered around the country
$10 million in money markets and other conservative, conservative U.S. bank accounts.
$10 million in my house and other hard assets
$10 million in T-Bills and stuff
$10 million in cash in safety deposit boxes and buried holes in the ground
$10 million in conservative U.S. mutual funds
$5 million in bonds
$5 million in money markets and other conservative, conservative non-U.S. bank accounts.
$5 million in conservative foreign mutual funds
$5 million in gold
$5 million in high-value art and other collectibles
$5 million in moderate to aggressive U.S. mutual funds

[Frazod]

If you win, you'll probably spend most of it hiding from your friends and relatives for the rest of your life.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

We should totally spend $100 out of the SOC money for tickets. Then if we win we can make an offer to the Hunt's for the team. Welcome to Arrowhead, home of your Kansas City Chiefsplanets!

CEO: Phobia
GM: PR_Capone
President of administration: Dane
Director of college Scouting: Mecca

[Molitoth]

Wonder what happens to those who win the lottery?

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by frazod

If you win, you'll probably spend most of it hiding from your friends and relatives for the rest of your life.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

[Gravedigger]

You always dream about what you'd do with the money. You always hear horror stories more so than success stories about the lottery winners. Luckily I don't have any drug addictions or gambling addictions that would get me into too much trouble, but I'm sure it would be absolutely maddening to see who you could trust.

I would personally pay off alot of my friends and family's debts. The worst thing about this day and age is rebounding from a distressing credit score, people need a fresh start and I'd love to give that to them. Outside of the normal big gifts to close family and friends, donations to charities I believe in, I would start with clearing others debt.

[Fish]

We could fly banners every day for the next 30 years.......

[dtebbe]

I paid my voluntary taxes today..

[journeyscarab]

I'd spend my winnings on large foam cowboy hats, paddle balls, beer and a lifetime subscription to Rhode Island Slut newspaper.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by noa

Apparently, you have better odds of lining up a trail of quarters from NY to LA and selecting the one quarter bearing a special marking.
Posted via Mobile Device

Out of curiosity, I checked the math on that.

Its true, barely.

[FlaChief58]

I put 10 bucks in the pot

[scho63]

Bought $10 worth of quick picks earlier in the week. It is scary to think that today you wake up poor and tomorrow you are suddenly worth $375 MILLION dollars. Mind boggling amount for sure.....

You just know that there is going to be a fight or legal battle over a group winning and someone who is excluded is going to sue....it's the American way!