Powerball prize climbed to $700million ahead of drawing

The estimated jackpot for Wednesday night’s Powerball lottery game has climbed to $700 million, making it the second-largest in U.S. history. 

The drawing will be Wednesday at 10.59pm Eastern Time in Tallahassee, Florida.

The jackpot is listed as $700 million, but that refers to the annuity option, given out in 30 payments over 29 years. Most winners favor the cash option, which pays significantly less. For the current jackpot, the cash prize would be $443.3 million.

Federal income taxes will take a 25 per cent bite from winnings. State taxes vary, so the amount winners will pay in taxes depend on where they play. 

Some of the nation’s biggest states, including California and Texas, don’t have state taxes on lottery prizes, so winners in those spots would be just a bit richer.

Five white balls will be drawn from a drum containing 69 ball, and one red ball will be selected from a drum with 26 balls.

To win, players need to have paid two dollars for a ticket and either have chosen the numbers drawn or opted to let a computer make a random choice.

This Powerball prize has gotten so large because the balls have rolled 20 times now without a winner.

The largest lottery prize in U.S. history was a massive $1.6billion in 2016, also from a Powerball lottery. In 2012, the $656 Mega Millions was split three ways. 

It’s easy to forget that the purpose of Powerball is to raise money for government programs in the 44 states where the game is played, as well as Washington DC Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

Each jurisdiction decides how to spend the money raised by Powerball and other lottery games, with some funding college scholarships, others spending the money on transportation and many using it for general state programs.

The Powerball has rolled 20 times without a winner so far, making this prize large (stock image)