Anyone in need of half a billion dollars?
Then today would be a good day to get to a Pennsylvania Lottery retailer and buy a Powerball ticket. The game’s jackpot for today is estimated to be $550 million if someone hits it. If you win and take the lump sum payment (which you should), that is valued at $335 million.
Powerball Product Group Chairman and New Mexico Lottery CEO David Barden sums it up pretty succinctly:
“Spring is rolling in and the Powerball jackpot is growing. The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday, March 20 is an impressive $550 million. Be sure to get your ticket, but please play responsibly.”
Winning numbers for March 20
Check back at 11 p.m. ET for the winning numbers as soon as they are announced.
Winning numbers: 10 – 14 – 15 – 53 – 63
Powerball: 21 (PowerPlay 2X)
If you pooled together to buy tons of tickets, don’t hurt your eyes sifting through them. Be sure to download the PA Lottery mobile app which can scan all of your tickets and let you know which one is the winner.
Should you hit the lottery jackpot today, you will take home the eighth-largest Powerball jackpot ever. Should it not hit today, the next drawing might well be the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot in history.
Pennsylvania Lottery players raking in the dough
Just this past weekend, one lucky PA Lottery player hit a seven-figure jackpot playing Powerball. Shop Rite grocery store in Roxborough, just outside Philadelphia, sold the winning ticket. The store gets a $5,000 bonus for doing so.
The ticket matched everything except for the Powerball. Unfortunately for the winner, they did not take advantage of the $1 Power Play option, which would have doubled the prize to $2 million.
How hard is it to win the Powerball jackpot?
Wondering what your chances are to win tonight? Here is a look at the odds:
Numbers Matched Prize Amount Odds of Winning
5 + Powerball Jackpot 1 in 292,201,338.00
5 w/o Powerball $1 million 1 in 11,688,053.52
4 + Powerball $50,000 1 in 913,129.18
4 w/o Powerball $100 1 in 36,525.17
3 + Powerball $100 1 in 14,494.11
3 w/o Powerball $7 1 in 579.76
2 + Powerball $7 1 in 701.33
1 + Powerball $4 1 in 91.98
Powerball $4 1 in 38.32
What do you do if you win the lottery?
Should you defy the odds and win the jackpot, you may want to post on Facebook, call everybody you’ve ever met, and throw a party.
Don’t.
The first thing you should do is call a lawyer. With hundreds of millions at stake, it is worth it to bring in a legal expert to make sure you cross your Ts and dot your Is.
The thing you should not do is sign the back of the ticket. Your lawyer will likely suggest you set up a private trust that does not have your name on it. You cannot do that in the state of Pennsylvania if you sign the back of your ticket. So, if you value your privacy and don’t want anyone coming out of the woodwork to beg you for money, put the ticket somewhere safe and do nothing to it until after you seek legal advice.
