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Lottery lawyer gives billion-dollar advice
LiveNOW's Andy Mac spoke to attorney Kurt Panouses about what to do if your ticket has the winning numbers.
A record $1.4 billion Powerball jackpot is on the line Wednesday night after weeks of drawings without a grand prize winner. The numbers drawn Sept. 3 were 3, 16, 29, 61, 69 and the red Powerball 22. The Power Play multiplier was 2x.
The jackpot ranks among the largest in Powerball history, the result of a streak of rollovers stretching across the summer.
Dig deeper:
The massive Powerball prize is the sixth-largest U.S. lottery jackpot. It's a result of 40 consecutive drawings stretching over the summer without anyone matching all of the game's six numbers.
Powerball lottery tickets pictured inside a store in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by GIORGIO VIERA / AFP) (Photo by GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)
The backstory:
No one has won the grand prize since May 31, and the 41st drawing on Wednesday will be just one fewer than the record set last year.
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All of that losing stems from Powerball's abysmal odds of 1 in 292.2 million, though lottery officials note that the odds are far better for the game's many smaller prizes. There are three drawings each week.
Why you should care:
The $1.4 billion jackpot is for a winner who opts to receive 30 payments over 29 years through an annuity. Winners almost always choose the game's cash option, which for this drawing would be an estimated $634.3 million.
By the numbers:
Powerball tickets cost $2, and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Source: The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story comes from official lottery data and statements by Powerball officials. This story was reported from Los Angeles.