Powerball fever is sweeping the nation once again.
Saturday’s estimated jackpot - $478 million - the eighth largest in US history.
Professor Mark Bush with Keiser University has your sure fire, can't miss, number one thing you need to do to have a shot at tomorrow's $478 million Powerball jackpot…
“You take two dollars, you go to the lottery store, and you buy a ticket,” he says. “That's the only way you're going to win.”
Not exactly what we were hoping to hear from the professor - but at least he's realistic.
Your chances of winning the lottery - not so much.
Professor Bush explains to us why the odds have gone way up since 2015.
Prior to then, the white balls selected during the drawing were numbered 1 through 59.
The red Powerball numbered 1-35.
“In October 2015, they added 10 white balls and took away 9 red balls,” Professor Bush says.
The changes increased the odds from 1 in 175 million to 1 in 292 million.
So say you do hit the jackpot, and take home the $330 million lump sum - what could you buy?
“If you like to fly, you can buy 9 leer jets,” the professor suggests.
If water is more your thing, the professor has both good and bad news.
“If you have 1,600 friends and you like cruising - 180 days of fun. But then you would be broke.”
If you do go broke, you won't be alone.
“Seven out of 10 people who win a big lottery end up going broke at some point,” Professor Busch says.
So the odds are definitely not in your favor - but what the heck.
“It’s just fun to always be able to dream.”
Professor Bush says if you are worried about blowing the jackpot, you can choose to take installment payments instead.
Those amount to about 16 million dollars a year for 30 years.
