Powerball hits highest jackpot after no winner drawn

The Powerball jackpot has climbed to a record-breaking estimated $700 million after no winner was selected during Wednesday’s drawing, ABCreports.

The jackpot will reportedly continue to climb until the next drawing this Saturday.

“The last Powerball jackpot winner was in November, when a ticket holder from Tennessee claimed $144.1 million,” Reuters reports. “However, that was far smaller than last year’s biggest jackpots of $564.1 million in February and $310.5 million in September.”

Additionally, the largest payout by a lottery in the United States was in 2012 when someone who you most definitely would like to be friends with, won $656 million in a Mega Millions drawing.

A recent survey conducted by Cumberland Farms investigated the habits of Powerball players which were surprising. For instance:

64 percent of respondents said they “rarely” use the same numbers when playing the lottery. If it didn’t work the last time around, it’s time to try something new.
When it comes to hitting the jackpot, 46percentof respondents would call their significant other first — while 10percentconfessed their first call would be their lawyer.
59percentof respondents said that a store’s previous history of lottery winners does not influence whether or not they purchase tickets from that location. It’s all a gamble anyway.
Of those who don’t opt for quick picks, 38percentof respondents choose their numbers based off of significant birthdays, while 11 percent use their wedding date or other important anniversaries when picking their numbers.
The web is the go-to source for checking winning numbers, with 74 percent of respondents saying they check to see if they won either online, or via Facebook and Twitter.

Happy legal gambling!

Matt Lee is a Web producer for Metro New York. He writes about almost everything and anything. Talk to him (or yell at him) on Twitter so he doesn’t feel lonely@mattlee2669.