DES MOINES, Iowa—With up to $1.4 billion at stake in Wednesday’s Powerball, questions about the drawing seem to be as abundant as the convenience-store kiosks offering tickets for the record-breaking jackpot.
The inquiries include many myths and misconceptions about the winners, the prize money and the system that decides them. A look at some of the most common questions:
Why Are All the Jackpot Winners From Certain States?
Officials with the Multi-State Lottery Association, a group of state lotteries that oversee Powerball, said this is one of the most frequent complaints.
It’s “human nature to think the other guy is winning,” said Sally Lunsford, public affairs director for the Kansas Lottery.
It’s also wrong, though there are anomalies.
For example, in the past two years, Missouri and Tennessee have each been home to three Powerball jackpot winners, while New York, the nation’s fourth most populous state, has only had one winner during that span.
Lottery officials, backed by mathematicians, said probabilities equal out over time, but in shorter periods, oddities can occur, in the same way someone could flip a coin and get heads five times in a row.
The Powerball Jackpot Overstates the Winnings
There’s more of a rationale behind this claim. The jackpot is the amount paid out over 30 years and not the amount a winner could receive immediately. So while the current jackpot is listed at $1.4 billion, a sole winner would only get that much if the person received 29 annual payments. Winners can also choose the cash prize, which is the total amount currently up for grabs, but that is “only” $868 million.
Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery, responded that Powerball prominently displays both the annuity and cash prize figures. The bigger number gets more attention, and Grief said lotteries have taken that approach for decades.
“When the prize gets so big, the critics come out as well,” he said.
