The Lotto Matrix: Big Powerball, An Aussie Adventure, And More!

First things first

How much is Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot drawing worth? Mega Millions continues to be a growing “Player” with a $198 million jackpot up for grabs. The cash option is $89.3 million for those who want to do the Scrooge McDuck backstroke in their piles of winnings.

The good news is the drought of no one matching the five non-Mega numbers was snapped at nine drawings Aug. 8 when a player in California accomplished the feat and got something extra for their effort with a random 3x Megaplier applied to win $3 million. The 13 tickets that matched four numbers and the Mega Ball the last two drawings paid out $440,000.

There have been 13 rollovers since someone in Virginia matched all five numbers and the Mega Ball on June 27 for the $348 million drawing. 

How much is Saturday’s Powerball jackpot drawing worth? We have a “Grown Man” running around for a $565 million jackpot as Saturday night will be the 33rd drawing since a grand prize was last won May 31 in California for $204.5 million. The cash option is a strong $258.5 million.

But, as Lottery Geeks cohort and napkin math ninja Jeff Edelstein noted Monday, there’s still a looooooooong way to go to get to a Top 10 jackpot. That magic number is $732 million.

Top second-tier payouts spanning the last three drawings were plentiful. Tickets in Illinois, New Jersey, Virginia, New Hampshire, Oregon, Texas, and Washington matched all five non-Powerball numbers for $1 million prizes, and there were a whopping 88 tickets with four numbers and the Powerball that paid out a combined $5.3 million.

Decisions, decisions

A very lucky person in Ohio has a life-defining decision to make. The person matched all five numbers and the “luckyball” in the multistate Lucky for Life drawing Tuesday night and now has a dilemma we would all like to have.

Take $1,000 a day for the rest of your life or a one-time, lump-sum payment of $5.75 million? If the winner chooses the daily payout — and it is indeed a check every day for all of their days — it would take approximately 15 years and nine months to reach the 5,750 days that would equal $5.75 million.

The winner, who bucked odds greater than 1 in 30 million for the $2 draw game, has six months to decide the form of payment.

Ain’t no party like an Iowa State Fair party

Last month, the Iowa Lottery put out the call to players to attend the Iowa State Fair in a bid for a Guinness World Record for the most people simultaneously playing a scratcher. Residents and visitors alike in the Hawkeye State came out in droves to Elwell Family Park in Des Moines on Thursday to be a part of history.

They smashed the previous record of 550 established in Poland as 1,380 people played Scratch, Match & Win!. The event was part of the Iowa Lottery’s year-long celebrations marking its 40th anniversary.

According to KIMT-3 TV, Katherine Pierce of Des Moines won the $40,000 grand prize special drawing held after the successful world record attempt. Sharon Hulsebus of Cedar Rapids and Anthony Gleichman of Council Bluffs each won second prizes worth $4,000.

I have no words

Lottery Geeks cohort Eric Raskin’s blow-by-blow of the video detailing Powerball winner James Farthing’s “adventures” shortly after the April 26 drawing really doesn’t need an introduction. But I’ll try: Come for the drunken fight, stay for the tasering and clean cop tackle.

A Down Under mystery

It has now been nine weeks since a winning $100 million AUD ($64.96 million USD) Powerball ticket was sold in the east suburbs of Sydney, and no one has made a claim.

Lottery officials, according to 9 News Australia, do have video of the person purchasing the winning ticket for the June 12 drawing — the largest in Powerball Australia history. But local laws do not permit release of the footage to the public.

Deepening the mystery is the fact that the winning ticket has yet to be registered. That means it could be anyone who visited the Bondi Junction Newsagency & Internet Café on Oxford Street, including tourists. If the winner is an Aussie, there will be plenty of “Oi! Oi! Oi!” shouts as that Powerball jackpot is tax-free.

No fleas or ticks here

The New Jersey Lottery is accepting photographs of peoples’ dogs as part of its Jersey’s Top Dogs contest. A total of 50 dogs will be selected to appear on scratch-off tickets in the Garden State based on a public vote. People can submit photos of their very good doggos until Aug. 24, and voting will take place from Aug. 29 to Sept. 12.

The 50 dogs with the most votes will then be judged on “Jersey Spirit” and “Cuteness” to determine the 16 grand prize winners and 34 first-place winners that will represent a variety of breeds.

Newsworthy nuggets

OK, but what are you going to do with the other $155.595 million? The Virginia Lottery reported the man who claimed the aforementioned $348 million June 27 Mega Millions jackpot plans on spending some of his winnings on a “zero-radius riding lawn mower.”

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, opted for the lump sum cash payment of $155.6 million. Officials said he reported to lottery headquarters in Richmond approximately four weeks after the drawing to make his claim.

The winning ticket was purchased at E & C Mid Atlantic in Burgess, which is an unincorporated community in Northumberland County located in northeast Virginia.

Pass go and collect A LOT more than $200: The Pennsylvania Lottery paid out its largest online lottery prize for the MONOPOLY Progressive Jackpots on Wednesday as Nicole Walter claimed a $2 million payday.

The monumental victory for Walter, 42, came at a crucial juncture in her life: The grandmother of 10 recently completed radiation treatment for breast cancer and survived a heart attack.

“I was playing PA Lottery games on my phone, and [my boyfriend] was playing on his phone, and he said, ‘Hey, I like the Monopoly one, let’s try it,’” Walter told lottery officials. “Then my screen went blank and popped up $2 million. I was shocked — I didn’t even say anything at first.”

Walter said she will put her winnings towards renovating the family’s farmhouse.

Who has the biggest active individual state lotto jackpot in the land? It was another week with a smile for The Lottery Geeks chaos crew. It is now nearly a fortnight from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation being in charge of the Texas Lottery. The Lone Star State still comfortably leads the pack for largest state-run lottery jackpot in the U.S. at $45.25 million, and Saturday night’s drawing also carries a cash option of $24.9 million.

The California Super Lotto Plus remains second after two more rollovers bumped the prize to $34 million or a $15.6 million cash option. Florida again occupies the final podium spot at $24.5 million after another two rollovers in the Sunshine State. The Illinois Lottery ticked to $14 million after no one won Thursday night’s drawing, and the Hoosier Lottery in Indiana is creeping closer to eight figures with $9.7 million up for grabs Saturday night.

The multi-state Lotto America drawing is worth $2.15 million Saturday night and carries a cash option of $980,000.

Until next week, dream big, check your numbers, keep your tickets where you can find them, and play responsibly!