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Here We Go Again! Powerball Jackpot Reaches $314 Million

By Ahiza Garcia
PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -- Have you bought your Powerball ticket?

The current jackpot for the national lottery has reached $314 million after going weeks without a winner. The next drawing is Saturday night. If a winner isn't drawn, the pot will grow even bigger.
The last jackpot to reach this level eventually grew to become the largest in U.S. history -- $1.5 billion.

That jackpot garnered a lot of attention until three winning tickets were sold in January in Chino Hills, California, Munford, Tennessee and Melbourne Beach, Florida. While the jackpot is advertised as being worth $314 million, a winner will only receive that amount if they take the annuity -- the money is paid out over 30 years.

The lump sum option, which is more popular, has a cash value of $204.7 million. As the pot grows, more and more people are likely to rush out to pick their numbers. But the odds of winning aren't great. Individual tickets have only a 1 in 292 million chance of having the jackpot-winning six-digit combination. Even just guessing the Powerball number, which will get you $4, is hard -- the odds are 1 in 38.

(The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)

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