Powerball winning numbers announced for $460 million jackpot

The winning Powerball numbers drawn Wednesday were 2, 18, 37, 39, 42 and the Powerball number is 12. The jackpot is $460 million. 

There is a one-time cash option of $291 million.

Powerball tickets are $2. If there is no winner, the next jackpot will be Saturday.

There was no winner in Tuesday’s Mega Millions’ drawing, pushing the jackpot up to $418 million for Friday’s drawing. 

The odds of winning one of the jackpots is roughly one in 259 million for Mega Millions and one in 292 million for Powerball. And the chances of winning both, for those of you thinking really big? Roughly one in 75 quadrillion — that’s 15 zeros — according to data scientists at Allstate. 

To understand how unlikely those odds are, it’s worth comparing them to the probability of other unlikely events. Americans are much more likely to get struck by lightning (odds of one in 13,500) or to die in a car accident (one in 645). 

The average American spends about $200 a year on lottery tickets, although residents of some states spend far more. According to a study by LendEDU, the average Massachusetts resident spends $735 annually on lottery tickets. Rhode Islanders spend $514 a year. Those in Delaware or New York are likely spending about $400 a year, or $33 per month.