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Powerball Jackpot Hits $1 Billion for Monday, Your Odds

For only the second time in history, the Powerball Jackpot has reached $1 billion after no one picked a winning ticket in Saturday’s drawing. Now thousands of Americans are lining up for Monday night’s massive Jackpot.

Do you feel lucky? Powerball jackpot reaches $1 billion

Saturday saw the fifth-largest jackpot in Powerball history, at an estimated $825 million, but no one matched all six numbers. The grand prize is poised to reach over $1 billion on Monday night.

Thousands of Americans are lining up at convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores across the country hoping for a chance at winning the massive $1 billion + jackpot in the Powerball lottery, the Daily Mail reported.

It will be the second-highest jackpot in Powerball history. The biggest prize was a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot that was won by three ticket holders in 2016, Newsbreak reported. The three winners were from California, Florida, and Tennessee.

What will the winner take home?

The winner can choose to receive annual payments or take a lower payment in cash.

According to Forbes, if a winner chooses annual payments, they would be paid out over 30 years and receive an average payout of $33.3 million before taxes.

Nearly all winners take the cash payment, which is estimated at $497.3 million for Monday’s $1 billion Powerball jackpot.

Loads of Americans are feeling lucky, and outstanding luck is what it will take to win the prize, as the odds of winning the jackpot stand at one in 292.2 million. No one has hit all six numbers in the Powerball since August 3.

The Powerball is played in 45 US states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each ticket sells for two dollars, and the winning draws are broadcast each Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 PM ET, and streamed online at powerball.com.

Lottery odds compared to other long shots

As mentioned earlier, in January 2018, Fortune reported that the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot sat at 1 in 292.2 million.

Not to burst anyone’s bubble, but it can be fun to put those kinds of odds in perspective by comparing them to other things, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

1. Odds of becoming a billionaire outside the lottery: 1 in 409,000.

2. Odds of becoming crushed by a meteorite: 1 in 1.6 million.

3. Odds of being killed by bees: 1 in 54,093.

4. Odds of becoming the president of the United States:  1 in 32.6 million.

5. Odds of being killed by a shark: 1 in 3.7 million.

6. Odds of winning an Olympic gold medal: 1 in 662,000.

7. Odds of sinking a hole-in-one: 2,500 to 1 as a professional golfer and 12,500 to 1 as an amateur golfer.

8. Odds of being struck by lightning: 1-in-15,300 (according to the NWS).