Sure, the odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292.2 million, but if you’re not in, you can’t win.
Despite the fact that they’re nigh on impossible to win, there’s something about a massive lottery jackpot that inspires people to lose the run of themselves a little.
On this side of the world, the sight of a substantial Euromillions jackpot is enough for most of us to rush to buy a pile of tickets because we’re sure that we’re going to win the bloody thing, but even the Euromillions pales in comparison to what’s on offer in the US at the moment.
After the $510 million (approximately approx. €436 million) Powerball jackpot went unclaimed over the weekend, Wednesday night’s draw (Thursday morning over here) will be worth in the region of €596 million, the second largest jackpot in US history.
Although, as mentioned above, the odds of winning are one in 292.2 million, it has to be won some time and having already rolled over 20 times since June, it’s likely to be claimed sooner rather than later.
If you’re feeling lucky, you can try and get in on the act on Lottoland, a licensed global lottery betting provider, which has opened up the chance of winning the jackpot to Irish people, who previously could only stake their claim to win the jackpot if they had an Irish relative living in the US.
According to Associated Press, the jackpot of €596 million will only be paid out to winners who claim the annuity option (30 payments over 29 years), whereas the vast majority of those lucky enough to win the Powerball jackpot favour straight up cash, despite the fact it pays significantly less.
For the current jackpot, for example, the cash prize would be a relatively paltry €376.65 million.
Either option sounds quite good to us; if you fancy your chances, you can play here.
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