How to Avoid Blowing Your Lottery Jackpot

The jackpot for Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing has climbed to $1 billion. That makes it one of the largest lottery prizes in U.S. history. But before you start buying tickets, consider this: Even if your numbers don’t come up, your chances of winning are still low. That’s because the odds are based on how many numbers are in play. If you choose to play a lottery with fewer numbers, you have a better chance of winning.

Moreover, the bigger the jackpot, the more likely people are to buy tickets. Super-sized jackpots also earn lotteries a windfall of free publicity on news sites and broadcasts. But there’s a way to avoid blowing your jackpot: Aim for smaller jackpots and make it harder to win.

You can do that by playing a lottery with fewer numbers, or by choosing the numbers that are least popular, Kovach says. Another option is to join a lottery group and pool money with friends or family members. As long as the group’s agreements are watertight, this strategy can improve your odds by reducing your costs while increasing your returns.

When you win, you’ll have to decide how you want to claim your prize. Most winners choose to take a lump sum payout, which for this week’s drawing would be roughly $527 million. They can also opt for an annuity, which would result in 29 annual payments starting on the day of their win and ending when they die.