current powerball and mega millions jackpot

When someone wins a lottery jackpot in games like Powerball or Mega Millions they have two options: an annuity that is distributed over 29 years or a (significantly smaller) cash payout. How much do jackpot winners really take home? Mega Millions followed two years later, lengthening the odds of winning the top prize from 1 in 258.9 million to 1 in 302.6 million. In 2015, the Powerball lottery lengthened the odds of winning from 1 in 175.2 million to 1 in 292.2 million. Such big jackpots comes down to math and more difficult odds. Winning the lottery has become harder in recent years, causing jackpots to grow bigger and bigger - and that’s by design. For both games, the odds of winning any prize stand at about 1 in 24. Of course, both Mega Millions and Powerball offer a handful of tiers below the top jackpots - with the lowest prizes starting at $2 and $4, respectfully. It’s about 4 times as likely that you die in a car accident on the trip to buy your ticket than you are to win,” he said. 'Imagine you have to drive half a mile to buy your lottery ticket, so you have a 1 mile round-trip.

“A slightly darker example,' Kovach added, is comparing the odds of winning the lottery to getting into a fatal car accident on the way to a store.

Current powerball and mega millions jackpot