Buy your lottery ticket today

The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday is being raised to $500 million annuity; $327 million CASH

As if $425 Million isn’t enough, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery announced this morning that Wednesday night’s Powerball jackpot has jumped to $500 Million. When the jackpot rolled last Saturday, the Lottery publicized a $425 Million jackpot for Wednesday. This morning, after consultation with Powerball officials, it was revealed that heavy sales have pushed more dollars into the prize pool, increasing the jackpot to $500 Million. Even at $425 Million, this jackpot was the largest in Powerball history. 

“When these enormous jackpots occur, it is all good news for scholarships,” said Arkansas Lottery Director Bishop Woosley. “A game that delivers 40 per cent of its revenue to net proceeds—that’s the scholarship fund—is a game we want everyone to enjoy and play regularly. Powerball and Mega Millions are highly profitable for the students of Arkansas. This jackpot run, begun on October 4, will produce at least $3 Million for Arkansas scholarships from Powerball alone. The higher the jackpot, the more tickets we sell, and the faster the scholarship dollars pile up.” Woosley also expressed appreciation for Arkansas businesses who sell lottery tickets and for the clerks who work for them. “They are going to have two long days with this mind-blowing jackpot,” he said.

Prizes at this astonishing level are very rare, yet we’ve seen two in 2012. Everyone remembers the $640 Million Mega Millions jackpot in February, with players lining up around the block and traffic jams at state borders. This is only the seventh time the Powerball jackpot has exceeded $300 Million since the first ticket was sold in 1992. Between now and Wednesday night at 9 p.m., Arkansas players can spend $2 for a chance to win a heartstopping $500 Million.

But while unimaginable jackpots are rare, great prizes are not. “Powerball’s lower tier prizes are still pretty spectacular, especially if you spend an extra $1 for PowerPlay,” Woosley reminded players. On Saturday, he said, no one hit the jackpot but 11 people across America won $1 Million. One of those, who also bought the $1 PowerPlay, doubled his prize to $2 Million. Players who win $10,000 and have the PowerPlay option see their prize bumped up to $40,000. Since its inception, Powerball has paid out $19.9 Billion in prizes to lucky winners.

For those who’ve never played before, it’s easy. Just walk into any one of the 1900-plus lottery retailers and say, “I want a Powerball quick pick. Here’s $2.” If you want to pick your own numbers, think of 5 different whiteball numbers between one and 59 and one Powerball number between one and 35. Your Powerball number can be the same as one of your five whiteball numbers. Some people think it’s fun to pick their own numbers, but your odds of winning are the same when you use quickpick and let the computer pick for you.

The drawing at 9:59 p.m. Wednesday, broadcast by KARK in Little Rock, will reveal the six winning numbers. Results are announced by many television newscasts and newspapers throughout the state. The numbers can also be found at myarkansaslottery.com and at any Arkansas Lottery retailer. All Arkansans are reminded to play responsibly, for fun and with discretionary funds. Players must be 18 years or older to purchase lottery tickets in Arkansas.