$500 Million Powerball Jackpot Numbers Have Been Drawn, Top Prize Rises To $564 Million


Numbers for Wednesday’s Powerball drawing, which now carries a jackpot totaling $564 million, have been drawn and the winning numbers are as follows.

“25, 11, 54, 13 and 39, with a Powerball of 19.”

Experts say the odds of winning are about 175 million to one. In order to win the jackpot, players must have all five numbers and the Powerball number.

Powerball is played in 44 of the 50 states, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

The $564 million jackpot, which ABC News reports has a cash value of roughly $350 million, is the largest prize in U.S. history.

The tickets, which sell for $2 apiece, are sold in every state except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, and Utah. None of these states have state-run lotteries.

Inquisitr reported previously that officials had estimated the total prize pool at $500 million, but by the time of the drawing that number had risen to a whopping $564 million.

The jackpot hasn’t been this big since February 19, 2014, when a man purchased a $425.3 million ticket at a Milpitas gas station, according to lottery officials in California.

The odds of getting killed by a flesh-eating bacteria, which are one in a million, are better than the odds of winning the Powerball’s jackpot. Even the odds of getting killed by a shark or a terrorist are better than the odds of matching all six numbers.

Only six states allow jackpot winners to remain anonymous. However, other states allow for exceptions under special circumstances.

In order to claim the multimillion dollar jackpot, a winning ticket must match both of the five regular numbers as well as the sixth Powerball number.

The latest drawing occurred at 7:59 p.m. Pacific time on Wednesday. Drawings occur on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and ticket sales end about an hour before each drawing.

Winners are allowed to take the full amount spread out over 30 years or they can opt for an immediate one-time payout of a lesser amount. In the case of the $500 million, the one-time payout would have been $338 million, according to an NBC News report.

The Multi-State Lottery Association, the entity which administers Powerball, raised its estimate of the current jackpot amount prior to the drawing amid strong ticket purchases.

Nobody has won the Powerball jackpot in over two months. In this period of time, the jackpot has risen from $40 million to well over $550 million.

The official Powerball website results of the latest drawing were currently pending.

If you won the $564 million jackpot, would you take the 30-year payment or the lesser lump sum all at once?

[Image via screen shot]

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