Powerball Jackpot up to $400 million; Drawing on Wednesday

By Dawn Aulet

By the end of the night Wednesday, some lucky person might be nearly half a billion dollars richer.

The Powerball lottery drawing takes place at 9:59 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 7. To find your nearest Illinois lottery retailer, click here. 

Each Powerball ticket cost $2. Players choose five numbers plus a sixth Powerball number. Players matching all six numbers can select an annuitized amount paid out over 29 years or a lump sum payment. For complete details, visit the Powerball website.

Fox News reports, "if Wednesday's jackpot doesn't top $400 million, a single winner choosing the cash option would collect $230.3 million before taxes. But no matter how many people play the game, the odds of matching all six numbers remains 1 in 175.2 million."

"The record Powerball jackpot was $590.5 million, won in May by an octogenarian of modest means in Florida," CNN reports. "The second-largest jackpot of $587 million was split by two players -- one from Arizona and one from Missouri -- in November 2012."

What would you do with $400 million? Let us know in the comments.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/05/powerball-jackpot-fourth-biggest-in-us-history-after-no-weekend-winner/#ixzz2b7qGFmu8