Powerball Wednesday January 13, 2016: $1.5 billion jackpot

• Nobody matched the winning numbers Saturday. 
• The jackpot is estimated $1.5 billion the next drawing on Wednesday 
• If no one wins Wednesday night, the estimated jackpot for Saturday's drawing would increase to $2 billion, or a lump-sum value of $1.24 billion before taxes.
• Winners have to pay 39.6 percent of the prize in federal income taxes, in addition to any state taxes.
•  The odds of winning the largest prize in U.S. lottery history were one in 292.2 million.

The Powerball jackpot has increased to $1.5 billion ahead of Wednesday night's drawing. If there is a winner, the person could decide to accept the amount over 29 years or opt for a lump-sum cash payout. 

Powerball numbers Wednesday January 13, 2016

4     8    19     27    34           10

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There were three winners for the recent huge $1.5 billion jackpot, from California, Florida, and Tennessee.

According to multiple media outlets Wednesday, Feb 4, John and Lisa Robinson of Munford, Tennessee, are being sued by a Muslim prison inmate who says in a hand-written court filing that he gave their daughter $20 from his prison trust fund to buy lottery tickets. Johnathan Lee Riches also claims Tiffany Robinson had agreed to marry him.

Mr. Riches, who also goes by Jihadi Schitz, claims that this entitles him to half the $328 million prize the Robinsons took as a lump-sum payment.

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Powerball is an American lottery game offered by 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

To win, a participant must match five numbers between 1 and 69 and a sixth number between 1 and 26 that is drawn separately.   The odds of this happening are 1 in 292.2 million.

The largest previous Powerball jackpot was $590.5 million, won when a single ticket purchased in Florida matched all six numbers in 2013.

Out of the 102 Powerball winners in the last seven years, only one chose the larger, but deferred, jackpot. That was Vinh Nguyen, who bought a winning Powerball ticket in September 2014 in San Mateo, Calif., and took the $228 million annuity prize.