What are the odds of winning Powerball in Ohio?

(WJW) — The Powerball jackpot kept climbing this week since no multi-millionaires were made in Monday’s or Wednesday’s drawing — or even the last several dozen drawings.

The current $1.5 billion jackpot is the second-largest in the game’s history and is likely drawing far more players ahead of the Saturday night drawing.

But even with more tickets floating around out there, your odds of winning something — even just a few bucks — off one ticket are the same: about 1 in 24.9, according to the Powerball website.

But hitting it big? Well, that’s a different story. The odds of your ticket matching the numbers on all five white balls and the red Powerball are about 1 in 292 million — no matter how many tickets are out there.

Those are better odds than winning Mega Millions — which are about 1 in 302 million — but you’re still more likely to get struck by lightning or elected President of the United States, according to financial website The Motley Fool.

The odds of matching just the five white balls’ numbers for a $1 million prize is much more realistic — relatively speaking, at least: about 1 in 11.7 million. In fact, two tickets hit that second prize in Monday’s drawing.

Jackpot winners can get a lump-sum payment or an annuity with 30 graduated payments over 29 years.

If anyone hits the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot in Saturday’s 10:59 p.m. drawing, they could get a cash value of $745.9 million — a stack reaching nearly as high as the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which is 2,717 feet tall.

The all-time record jackpot of $1.586 billion was struck in 2016 and shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.

But you better hurry — you’ve got until 10 p.m. Saturday to pick your numbers before the ticket pool closes.

It could happen to you … statistically speaking

Ohio-bought Powerball tickets have hit the jackpot three times since 2010, according to Powerball:

On July 9, 2014, Mary Ann Thompson of Conneaut won a $124.9 million jackpot. She chose her own numbers and took the cash payout.
On June 2, 2010, a blind trust and its trustee, George Hoffman, won a $261.6 million prize, and took the cash. The numbers were auto-picked.
On June 23, 2010, a group of 14 auto paint shop workers from Detroit split a $97 million jackpot with other winners in Montana on a ticket bought near Toledo. The numbers were auto-picked and the group took the cash.

Six $1 million Powerball tickets have been sold so far this year in Ohio: