Powerball jackpot surpasses half a billion dollars: Can you increase your winning odds?

(NEXSTAR) – For just the second time this year, a Powerball jackpot worth more than half a billion dollars is up for grabs after no ticket matched all six winning numbers drawn Saturday night. 

Numbers drawn were 4, 17, 35, 49, 61, and Powerball 8. Ahead of the next drawing, set for Monday night, Powerball officials say the jackpot has reached an estimated $522 million. 

This is now the second-largest Powerball jackpot of 2023. 

A Washington woman won a jackpot worth $754.6 million in February, pocketing the cash option of approximately $407.2 million. It stands as the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot in history and had been building since November 2022. 

The current $522 million jackpot has been growing since mid-April when a ticket sold in Ohio matched all six winning numbers for a jackpot worth $252.6 million. 

Though it has crossed the half-billion mark, the newest jackpot sits well outside the largest Powerball prizes on record. To become the 10th largest, the pot would need to become larger than $590.5 million, a prize won in Florida more than 10 years ago. 

So what are your odds of waking up a bit wealthier on July 4? 

You have a 1 in 292.2 million chance of hitting the jackpot, according to Powerball officials. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning – less than 1 in a million, according to the CDC.

There are some numbers that seem to be luckier than others. Since 2015, numbers 61, 32, 21, 36, and 63 have been drawn most frequently, according to Lotto Numbers, a site that tracks Powerball statistics over time.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that if you select a draw with those numbers on it (here’s how you would do that) that you have an automatic winner. Instead, all combinations of numbers have an equal chance of winning, according to Rong Chen, Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Statistics in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. This means the numbers pulled on Saturday have the same chance of being drawn again on Monday.

You can, however, opt for a combination of numbers others would be less likely to choose so if you do win, you’re less likely to share your prize with another winner. 

You can always increase your chances by simply buying more tickets. As Springfield College Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Andrew Perry explained to Nexstar’s WWLP, buying 100 tickets would cut your odds to about 1 in 2.92 million instead of 1 in 292.2 million.

With one ticket or 100, your chances at the jackpot are still pretty slim. But if you’re not focused on the jackpot, you may have a relatively decent chance of winning at least some sort of monetary prize. According to Powerball, the odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. There are nine ways to win a Powerball prize, the smallest being $4 — enough to cover the ticket you purchased and maybe buy another one.

Regardless of your odds (which are the same as everyone else’s), it’s important to play responsibly.

“However you play, there’s a high probability of losing all your money. I would advise people not to risk money that they can’t afford to lose,” Perry said.

Powerball is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday night. Tickets are $2 per play.