By Jesse Wood
The record-breaking $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot, which was drawn on Wednesday, will be split three ways as winning tickets were purchased in Florida, Tennessee and California.
Each ticket is worth $528.8 million in annuity form – minus any taxes. The winning numbers were 4, 8, 19, 27, 34 and Powerball 10. The winners had yet to come forward, according to lottery officials in each of the states.
Winning tickets were purchased in a 7-11 in Chino Hills, Cal., a Publix grocery store in Melbourne Beach, Fla., and at a location in Munford, Tenn.
The reason for the record-breaking Powerball jackpot is the change in odds introduced last July. The odds of winning the Powerball decreased from 1 in 175.2 million to 1 in 292.2 million.
The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that the Powerball was “becoming an endangered species of lottery” as sales were slumping. With the odds decreasing and the size of the jackpot subsequently increasing northward of a billion, a Powerball frenzy took over the nation.
Expect to see another billion dollar jackpot in the future.