With $1 billion Powerball jackpot up for grabs, Maryland residents are ready to test their luck

Marylanders are feeling lucky ahead of a $1 billion Powerball drawing Wednesday. This jackpot is the eighth largest in the game's history, and it has gone without a winner since May.

While the odds of getting struck by lightning are higher than winning the big prize, some are grabbing their tickets to test their luck.

"I think somebody's going to win tonight and it might be me," Richard Smith, of East Baltimore, said. "I play it here and there. I'm not really a heavy lottery person."

The cash payout for Wednesday's drawing is slated for $433 million, and the odds of winning it are one in 292 million.

"If you got a few bucks, why not go and spend it?" LeRoy Ellison, of West Virginia, said. "I don't even play it unless it gets to a billion. That's when it makes more sense. I mean everyone should play at that point."

What would you do with $1 billion?

"I know there wouldn't be no homeless out here in Baltimore. I just plan to help people," Smith said.

"Definitely pay off my house first. Take care of some bills. Maybe set up some funds for my kids or something like that," Ellison added. "You just have to hope you get lucky."

Monday night's Powerball drawing didn't see any jackpot winners, but Maryland has been on a hot streak. Three winning tickets worth $1 million have recently been sold across the state. Two of the winners haven't come forward yet.

The latest winning ticket was sold at Harvest Fare Supermarket in Fallston, located at 2315 Belair Road. It was Maryland's third $1 million Powerball prize in the past two weeks. The ticket matched the first five winning numbers, which were 6, 37, 54, 55, and 64, but did not match the Powerball number of 10.

"It seems to me that people are very willing to ignore staggering odds and relatively low payouts for the risk you're taking," JP Krahel, chair of the accounting department at Loyola University Maryland, said. "It may seem like only a $2 ticket, but keep the $2. Put it in a savings account."

Maryland's lottery, sports wagering and casino revenue generated $1.6 billion for the state last fiscal year. The lottery alone contributed $681.6 million. While revenue is up compared to other years, the state lottery says people are playing responsibly in most cases.

"Most people are satisfied with that being an entertainment experience, not as a way to secure their financial future," John Martin, director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, said. "Any time you get more players, you'll get more winners. And while we'd love to see a grand prize winner come in here, we are very, very thrilled when anyone comes in here with any jackpot of any size."

Maryland's recent Powerball luck

In the Aug. 1 Powerball drawing, a $1 million ticket was sold at the 7-Eleven at 8905 Rhode Island Ave. in College Park. Another winning ticket was sold at a Royal Farms at 1558 Annapolis Road in Odenton. That prize was claimed on Monday by an Anne Arundel County resident who nicknamed himself "Powerball Bulldog."

Another winning ticket, worth $150,000, was sold at a Harris Teeter store in Columbia. The store, located at 8620 Guilford Road, matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball number to win $50,000. The winner who purchased the ticket added the Power Play X3 option, tripling the prize to $150,000.

In addition, 15 winning tickets of $50,000 were sold in Annapolis (2), Belcamp, Beltsville, Bethesda, Catonsville, Gaithersburg, Greenbelt, Hyattsville, North Beach, North East, Nottingham, Sykesville, Waldorf and Wheaton. 

How tonight's Powerball drawing works

Powerball has nine different prize levels, including the jackpot. Across Maryland, there were 38,170 winning tickets in the Aug. 10 drawing, with prizes ranging from $4 to $1 million. 

The last time a jackpot winning ticket was sold in Maryland was in 2021 in Allegany County. It was claimed by a group of anonymous local winners.

Powerball drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights, with a jackpot that starts at $20 million and grows after each drawing in which the jackpot is not won. Tickets are sold in 45 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the United Kingdom. 

Five winning numbers are drawn from a range of 1 to 69, along with one winning Powerball number from a range of 1 to 26. Players win the jackpot by matching all five numbers plus the Powerball number.

Maryland Lottery winners have 182 days from the drawing date to claim their prizes and can claim anonymously if they choose.