On Saturday, January 9, millions of Americans rushed to buy a Powerball lottery ticket in hopes of winning the 900 million dollar prize. Many agreed that the chances of winning would be very high due to the large amount of money and the large amount of people playing. However, something interesting happened the day after, nobody won.
Yes, you read that right. I'm sorry to inform you, but nobody won the Lottery. However, I do have some good news. The fact that nobody won means that you still have a chance to win the jackpot prize. And here's where it get's good: due to the fact that there was no winner, the jackpot has increased to 1.3 billion. In fact, it's one of the largest lottery prizes in the history of the U.S. Lottery. So large that apparently Powerball billboards around the country, which usually display the current amount of the prize, cannot display the full amount and are instead displaying the numbers 999.
But is there actually a chance of winning the lottery? Maybe, maybe not. According to USA Today, Powerball officials changed the game's "matrix," making it harder to win the grand prize. In fact, the chances of winning the biggest prize shrank from 1 in 175 million to 1 in 292 million. But the odds of winning any prize grew from 1 in 32 to 1 in 25. So sure, while you might not win the 1.3 billion dollar prize, you can still find joy in hopefully winning a million dollars or so. Though, I wouldn't suggest being so quick to quit your job after you buy your ticket.
However, is it even a good thing to win the lottery? I know that might sound ridiculous. I mean, how could winning unimaginable amounts of money be a bad thing? Think of all the people you can help! Think of all the Starbucks you can buy! But despite all this, you must keep in mind that not everyone who has won the lottery has gone on to live happily ever after. In fact, many people have been miserable because of it. Some of the winners have become victims of robbery, death threats, substance abuse, bankruptcy, and even depression because of their winnings. But hey, maybe that won't happen to you if you win the lotto. In fact, there are many different ways to emerge from a lotto win victorious (well, more so than you already are). So chin up, and play away.
Now, here comes the important part. The next drawing is on Wednesday, January 13 (which was ironically the Powerball number in Saturday's drawing. Perhaps a sign of good luck?) at 7pm, which means that you have until then to buy your tickets, which are usually $2. So good luck, and don't forget, if you win I am always willing to take donations (I'm kidding of course!).
