Powerball Jackpot Hits $500 Million

When the Powerball jackpot gets big it tends to get a lot bigger. Lottery officials said earlier this week that they expected the $325 million powerball jackpot to skyrocket before Wednesday night’s drawing. Well, it currently sits at $500 million and it is expected to get a little bigger before Wednesday night.

The Powerball has seen some big jackpots this year but Wednesday night’s drawing will easily be the largest in the history of the game. Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman for the Iowa lottery, said that lottery officials raised the price of tickets from $1 to $2 in order to get more frequent big jackpots. Well, the strategy has worked.

Neubauer told ABC:

“Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2 … We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots. (The Powerball) has been taking huge jumps — another $100 million since Saturday.”

More money, however, doesn’t mean better chances. With more and more people buying tickets your chances of winning Wednesday night’s drawing are extremely small. According to lottery officials, you have about a one in 175 million chance of winning the Powerball on Wednesday.

Are you buying a ticket for the Powerball?

The Inquisitr reported earlier this week that the jackpot has rolled over 16 times already. If the Powerball rolls over again it will likely exceed the largest MegaMillions jackpot, $656 million, which was won earlier this year by three people.