Powerball Lottery Jackpots Have Increased in 2013 and 2014
A lucky person in California won the sixth-largest lotto jackpot prize in the history of lottery gaming on Wednesday. One winning Powerball ticket was sold for the $425 million jackpot lotto drawing on Wednesday, February 20, 2014. The ticket was sold in in Milpitas, California at a Dixon Landing Chevron gas station. Milpitas is found just outside of San Jose, California.
The winning numbers were 1, 17, 35, 49, and 54, while the Powerball number was 34. The single-ticket jackpot winner is significant in several ways, not the least of which being the fact this was the 6th-largest lottery jackpot in the history of gaming.
First Powerball Lottery Jackpot since Christmas
The last time the Powerball jackpot had been won was on Christmas Day 2013, so the pot had rolled over 15 times without a winner. The total prize was $425 million, which would translate to a cash value option of about $227,800,000 as a lump sum payout after taxes.
Jackpot prizes have increased significantly in the past couple of years, due to two major factors added in 2012. Ticket costs rose to $2, while California joined the (now) 43-state multi-state lottery network. Having the most populous state in the USA join the drawings has added a lot more cash to the pot, so near-record jackpots are becoming more common.
Biggest Jackpots in Recent History
In May 2013, the highest lottery jackpot in recorded history was produced by the Powerball lotto when a Florida player won the $590 million drawing as the lone winner. In August 2013, a $448 million jackpot was split between three separate winners, with one winning ticket in Minnesota and two in New Jerseys (including one owned by a 16-member lottery pool).
The odds of getting the winning numbers is 1 in 175,000,000. Those odds do not change in any given drawing, though the payouts change significantly, depending on how many drawings have happened without a winner. The number of tickets purchased also affect the size of the pot.
When a pot reaches the $400 million game and the lump sum payout is over $200 million, the Powerball lottery becomes a positive expectation game, because the payout exceeds the odds of hitting the jackpot. Of course, it’s still a shot in the dark that one would ever beat such astronomical odds, but one lucky lottery player who stopped in at a Milpitas, California convenience store did just that.
Seventeen $1 Million Winners and One $2 Million Winner
Besides the massive jackpot prize, the chairman of the Powerball Lottery Group, Rose J. Hudson, says 1 person won a $2 million prize and 17 other people won a $1 million prize. Mr. Hudson urged all the big winners to be careful about collecting their prize money and to talk to experts before spending their windfall. His advice goes for all lottery winners.
The chair of the Powerball Lottery Group said, “If you haven’t already, sign the back of your tickets and store them in a safe place. Use the claim time period to consult trusted financial and legal professionals; then you’ll be prepared to bask in an amazing Powerball winning experience.”
Third Nevada Online Gambling Site Launches
Nevada’s third online gambling website launched this week, after the state enacted laws last year which allowed land-based gaming operations to offer licensed Internet gambling. Real Gaming is launched a mobile casino for Nevada gamblers, which is set to compete against the World Series of Poker gaming site and the Ultimate Poker website.
Real Gaming’s casino will allow players living within the confines of Nevada to sign up. Therefore, these gamblers can play only other poker players from inside the state. Such restrictions might not be permanent, because Nevada is talking to Delaware about sharing player lists. Visitors to Real Gaming site can use their smartphones and tablet computers to download apps which will allow them to play for real money. Gaming is browser-based, so players won’t download casino software to play.
Real Gaming’s land-based partner on the mobile card room is South Point Casino, which is found on Las Vegas Boulevard in Enterprise, Nevada. The $500 million South Point Hotel opened in 2003. The RealGaming website originally was named South Point Online Casino, but is changing its name in the current changeover.
Harry Reid Supports Interstate Poker
While discussing the launch of the latest Nevada gambling site, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said he would support a bill which would allow interstate poker gambling, though he would oppose all other forms of interstate gambling. Reid said he believes unlimited online gambling would be bad for Americans.
Senator Reid, a Democrat from the State of Nevada, acknowledged that the opposition of the Las Vegas Sands’s Sheldon Adelson to online gaming was having an effect, said that did not assure the failure of gaming expansion. He mentioned the American Gambling Association would launch its own ad campaign to oppose Adelson’s own stance on the issue, saying “There is a lot of money being spent on both sides of the issue. We’ll see how much [Adelson is] willing to do.”
