Powerball jackpot soars to $1 billion for Monday night’s drawing

By Tina Burnside and Holly Yan, CNN

(CNN) — This is not an April Fool’s Day joke. Monday night’s Powerball drawing has skyrocketed to $1 billion.

This is only the fifth advertised Powerball jackpot to reach $1 billion, lottery officials said.

The deadline to buy tickets for today’s drawing varies depending on where you buy, but it’s typically one to two hours before the drawing takes place at 10:59 p.m. ET.

A winner who snags the billion-dollar prize can choose the annuitized option, with payments spread out over 29 years, or the lump-sum option of $483.8 million. Taxes must be paid either way.

It’s been three months since anyone won a Powerball jackpot. That lucky player in Michigan snagged an $842.4 million prize on January 1.

The overall odds of winning a Powerball prize in any amount are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

If you do miraculously hit the jackpot, try to stay sane with some smart planning.

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