Some facts about Powerball
The Powerball jackpot has been increased to $500 million for tonight’s drawing, with a cash option of $306 million, according to Kansas Lottery officials.
It will be the fourth largest Powerball jackpot ever, and the sixth largest jackpot lottery game in U.S. history, according to the Kansas Lottery.
The large jackpot could reverse a recent trend of a decline in Powerball spending. From fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year 2015, Powerball sales decreased by 14.5 percent in Kansas, according to a financial audit report by the Kansas Legislative Post-Audit division.
The previous fiscal year, the Powerball sales decrease was 20.6 percent, according to the report.
The decline was attributed to a lack of large jackpots, and it also mirrored an increase in Powerball ticket cost from $1 to $2.
According to the Powerball website, the odds of winning the jackpot grand prize are 1 in about 292 million.
The odds of winning a $1 million prize in Powerball are 1 in 11.6 million.