Do You Have A Better Or Worse Chance To Win Powerball In Texas?

Listen, you and I need to have a talk. This is a serious one because there's a lot of money at stake here.

We're talking over $1.5 BILLION on the line.

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The Powerball jackpot hasn't had a jackpot winner in 39 consecutive drawings, and by the time the drawing happens this weekend, we'll have reached heights we've never seen before. It will be the highest-ever jackpot that any lottery game in the United States has seen.

With that comes a lot of different things to think about and factor in. Living in Texas can be a huge advantage when it comes to winning, and being one of the most populous states, we're going to have a LOT of people hoping their lives are changed forever.

HOW MANY STATES PLAY POWERBALL?

So let's break this down a bit. 45 states participate in Powerball, which means five states are on the outside looking in. That's a good thing for those states that participate because it means fewer tickets will be sold.

WHY DOES IT SEEM LIKE THE MIDWEST ALWAYS WINS?

It feels like winners are always coming out of places like Iowa, Wisconsin, or Minnesota, and there is indeed some truth to that. The state of Minnesota has had a whopping 22 winners of the Powerball jackpot, and Wisconsin checks in with 17 winners. There does seem to be an advantage to playing in those states.

WHAT ARE MY CHANCES OF WINNING IT ALL IN TEXAS?

Well based on history, not very good. Our great state ranks WAY down at the bottom with a whopping TWO winners of the Powerball jackpot. How does a state with so many people living in it only have two winners? It seems like the odds are longer than the stated odds here, but there are some advantages if you DO score it.

OK, WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES?

Well, there's really one main advantage should you win the big jackpot here...no state taxes. We are one of only eight states where when you win, they'll hit you at the federal level but then you walk away with the rest of it. With a $1.5 billion jackpot staring us in the face, that's a lot of money the state won't see.

HOW CAN I GUARANTEE A WIN?

There's only one way you can guarantee a win, and that's to buy a ticket for every single possible number combination that could come out. There are 11,238,513 different combinations that could be drawn, so if you have a spare $22,477,026 laying around, there's no way to guarantee a win. However, for a jackpot like this, it would be well worth finding out what all those combinations are and buying a ticket with each one.

WHAT DO I DO IF I ACTUALLY WIN?

The biggest thing is to make sure you lawyer up. You're going to need an entire team around you to claim a jackpot like this. Maybe the most important thing is establishing a trust or something without your name attached to it. You don't want those "long lost family members" popping up asking for a bit of your newfound fortune.

Best of luck if you decide to play. I'm going to take my shot with probably 10 of the different number combinations, then hold my breath that luck is on my side.