News

1. The estimated Powerball jackpot for Wednesday, Feb. 6, is $208 million. Players can choose to receive the jackpot in 30 graduated payments over 29 years or in one cash payment.  Jackpot winners have 60 days from the winning draw date to choose cash or annuity payment.  After 60 days, unclaimed jackpot prizes can only be claimed with the annuity payment.
   
2. If the winner chooses the single cash payment, he or she will receive roughly half of the advertised amount in one lump sum. Wednesday’s cash option would bring a single player approximately $130.7 million in one payment, before taxes.
   
3. The Lottery withholds 25 percent federal and 4 percent state taxes for a total of 29 percent.
   
4. The Wednesday night draw will be the 12th drawing since the jackpot was last hit on Dec. 26, 2012, for $50 million.  That winning ticket was sold in Florida.
   
5. The top 10 highest Powerball jackpots are:
   
   1. $587,500,00 – on Nov. 28, 2012, split two ways to:  Cindy and Mark Hill of Dearborn, Mo.; and Matthew Good of Fountain Hills, Ariz.
   2. $365,000,000 – on Feb. 18, 2006, to eight employees at a ConAgra ham processing plant in Lincoln, Neb. The ticket was sold at U-Stop in Lincoln, Neb.
   3. $340,000,000 – on Oct. 19, 2005, to Steve and Carolyn West of Medford, Ore., and Bob and Frances Chaney of Jacksonville, Ore., (ticket sold in Jacksonville, Ore.)
   4. $337,000,000 – on Aug. 15, 2012, to Donald Lawson of Lapeer, Mich.
      
   5. $336,400,000 – on Feb. 11, 2012, to Louise White of Newport, R.I.
   6. $314,900,000 – $170.5 million cash – on Dec. 25, 2002, to Andrew Whittaker of Hurricane, W. Va.
   7. $314,300,000 – on Aug. 25, 2007, claimed by father David Coterel of Riverside, and his children David Coterel Jr. of Dayton, Ind., and Lynn Hiles of Dayton, Ind.  The ticket was purchased at Speedway, 4382 Nation Road East in Richmond, Ind.
   8. $295,700,932 – $161.4 million cash - on July 29, 1998, to The Lucky 13 of Ohio (ticket purchased in Indiana.)
   9. $294,964,114 – on Aug. 25, 2001, split four ways to: Sheryl Hanuman of Minneapolis, Minn.; Michael and Kathleen Kearney of Export, Penn. (Del.); David Edwards of Ashland, Ky.; and R. Erwin Wales of Bar Mills, Maine (N.H.).
   10. $276,300,000 – on March 15, 2008, to the Monongalia County Tax Office group of eight of Westover, W. Va., sold in West Virginia.
6. The top 10 jackpots won in Missouri are (all are from the Powerball game):
   
   1. Mark and Cindy Hill, Dearborn, $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012
   2. Christopher Shaw, Marshall, $258.5 million, April 21, 2010
   3. The Wilson family, St. Louis, $254 million, Jan. 24, 2007
   4. Lucky 13 State Workers, Florissant, $224.2 million, April 12, 2006
   5. Bill and Claudia Walkenbach, Hermann, $130.6 million, July 9, 2003
   6. Jerry Sue Huellewig, St. Charles, $69 million, Nov. 25, 1995
   7. Robert and Linda Burns, Centerview, $61.9 million, May 30, 2001
   8. Rose McLeod, Blue Springs, $55 million, Feb. 25, 1998
   9. Gary and Bev Ruff, Overland, $50 million, March 4, 2000
   10. Regina Dreiling, Grandview, $47 million, May 1, 1999
7. The highest lottery jackpot awarded nationwide was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot won March 30, 2012, with three winning tickets ($218.6 million each) sold in Ottawa, Kan., Red Bud, Ill., and Milford Mill, Md. The second-highest jackpot was a $587.5 million Powerball jackpot won on Nov. 28, 2012, with two winning tickets ($293.7 each) sold in Dearborn, Mo., and Fountain Hills, Ariz. The third-highest Mega Millions jackpot worth $390 million claimed by two ticket holders – one in Georgia and one in New Jersey – on March 6, 2007.

WINNER INFO

1. Of the 44 lotteries that offer Powerball, Missouri is ranked second in terms of Powerball winners with 27.  (First is Indiana with 38.)  More than $1.8 billion in Powerball jackpots alone have been won by Missouri Lottery players during the past 20 years.  During the past year, Missouri has ranked approximately eighth in terms of sales among the member lotteries.
   
2. One Missouri Lottery player has won a $1 million Powerball prize during this run (since Dec. 26, 2012) - Don Logan of Republic.
   
3. Since Powerball began on April 19, 1992, 752 Missouri Lottery players have won the second-level $100,000 prize, 193 Missouri lottery ticket holders have won the $200,000 or more Match 5 prize, and 18 ticket holders have a $1 million Match 5 prize.
   
4. The last time someone won a Powerball jackpot in Missouri was Nov. 28, 2012, when Mark and Cindy Hill of Dearborn claimed a ticket worth $293.7 million, half of the record $587.5 million jackpot, which was purchased at Trex Mart, 17605 Highway Z in Dearborn.
   
5. Twenty-six other Powerball tickets, sold in Missouri, were jackpot winners:
   1. Dec. 23, 1992 - Ruth House of St. Ann - $5.2 million
   2. March 3, 1993 - Millie Bond of Cameron - $29.6 million
   3. May 8, 1993 - Roger Poliette of Linn Creek and Shirley Poliette of Hillsboro - $36.8 million
   4. Aug. 11, 1993 - Joetta Burke of Poplar Bluff - $31.1 million
   5. June 18, 1994 - Fred and Linda Ward of St. Louis - $24.7 million
   6. Jan. 18, 1995 - Tim and Nancy Brand of St. Peters - $21.3 million
   7. July 1, 1995 - Leonard, Barb and Bob Drew of Dellwood and O’Fallon - $7.8 million
   8. Nov. 25, 1995 - Jerry Sue Huellewig of St. Charles - $69 million
   9. May 22, 1996 - Roma Evans of Ozark - $5 million
   10. June 29, 1996 - Chuck and Debbie Cook of Springfield - $26.6 million
   11. Nov. 1, 1997 – The Johnson Family Partnership of Florissant - $8 million
   12. Feb. 25, 1998 – Rose and David McLeod of Blue Springs - $55 million
   13. May 23, 1998 – 44 Independence Power & Light employees - $10 million
   14. Aug. 22, 1998 – Al and Candace Colorado of Kansas City – $43 million
   15. May 1, 1999 – Regina Dreiling of Grandview - $47 million
   16. March 4, 2000 – Gary and Bev Ruff of Overland - $50 million
   17. June 3, 2000 – Bruce Fester of Omaha, Neb. - $12 million
   18. Sept. 23, 2000 – Roberta Best of Raytown - $14.3 million
   19. May 30, 2001 – Robert and Linda Burns of Centerview - $61.9 million
   20. June 16, 2001 – Rich and Shannon Kasyjanski of Kansas City - $19.6 million
   21. Feb. 22, 2003 – Milton and Ethel Schroeder of St. Louis - $21 million
   22. July 9, 2003 - Bill and Claudia Walkenbach of Hermann - $130.6 million
   23. Nov. 2, 2005 - Floyd Scheinost of Raytown - $36 million
   24. April 12, 2006 - Lucky 13 of Florissant - $224.2 million
   25. Jan. 24, 2007 – The Wilson family of St. Louis - $254 million
   26. April 21, 2010 - Chris Shaw of Marshall - $258.5 million

SALES INFO

1. An average week of Missouri Powerball sales (based on the current 52 weeks) is approximately $1.8 million.
2. Missouri sold more than $2.3 million in Powerball tickets during the past week (Jan. 27 - Feb. 2).
   

GENERAL POWERBALL INFO

1. There are nine ways to win a prize in Powerball:

2. The drawing is at 9:59 p.m. Central Time.  Players can buy tickets in Missouri up to 8:59 p.m. Wednesday night.  The drawing is held in Tallahassee, Florida.
   
3. Approximately 5,000 terminals in Missouri sell Powerball tickets.
   
4. There are 44 members in Powerball:  42 state lotteries and the D.C. Lottery and the  Virgin Islands Lottery.  The members  are:  Arizona,  Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut,  Delaware, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,  Iowa, Kansas,  Kentucky, Louisiana,  Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,  Missouri, Montana,  Nebraska, New Hampshire,  New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,  South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, the Virgin Islands, West Virginia, Washinton and Wisconsin.
   
5. Powerball was improved on Jan. 15, 2012, to include:

   • A jackpot that now starts at $40 million, instead of $20 million
   • A jackpot that rolls by at least $10 million, instead of $5 million
   • Better top prize chances and better overall chances
   • Fewer numbers from which to pick the Powerball number - 1 in 35

WHERE THE MONEY GOES

• Approximately 64.8 cents of Lottery purchases are returned to players in prizes, and about 24.8 cents goes toward funding for Missouri’s public elementary, secondary and higher education. Retailers who sell Lottery tickets receive approximately 6.2 cents of every dollar and about 4.2 cents is used for administrative costs.

HOW TO PLAY

• Pick five numbers between 1 and 59. Then pick one additional number between 1 and 35 as the Powerball.
• Players can win nine ways on Powerball, ranging from the jackpot down to $4.
• If your Powerball number matches the Powerball number drawn, you win a prize. Without the Powerball number, you have to match at least three of the other five numbers to win a prize.
• The overall chances of winning a prize in Powerball are 1 in 31.85.
• Powerball players can also multiply their non-jackpot winnings up to five times using the Power Play feature. For $1 extra, players can at least double the regular set prize amount, or an automatic $2 million for matching all five white-ball numbers and using the Power Play.  See the Powerball page for more details.
• Approximately 88 percent of Powerball players use Quick Pick to select their numbers during an average period.

TIPS

• Play early to avoid long lines.  The terminals will shut down at 8:59 p.m. Wednesday, and no one will be able to buy tickets after that time.
• Play within your means. It only takes $1 to win.
• When you buy a ticket, sign it immediately and keep it in a safe place. Like money, it is a bearer instrument.
• Be sure to check your ticket closely. Even if you don’t win the jackpot, you may have won one of the eight other prizes in the game.