Shocking scandal blows apart $1billion Powerball mega jackpot... as experts expose secrets that you MUST read before entering
A staggering number of Powerball ticket holders can never win, a lottery watchdog has warned — in a shocking blow to America's biggest jackpot.
The center of the scandal, she says, revolves around the Quick Picks feature, which allows players to have a computer randomize their lottery numbers.
But expert Dawn Nettles claims the way some lotteries print Quick Picks — particularly in Texas, where she tracks the system — can slash a player's chances of ever winning, even though up to 80 percent of participants use this method.
The system frequently spits out duplicate tickets and doesn't keep a memory of the combinations it has already sent.
Nettles argues that these repeated patterns mean fewer unique combinations, which she believes undercut players trying to match the jackpot figures.
The idea is that as lottery jackpots climb, more Americans buy tickets, drawn in by the huge prize - which in turn boosts profits. That could have an impact on tonight's drawing of an estimated $1 billion Powerball jackpot.
Nettles runs the Lotto Report, where she tracks lottery sales and winning trends, and has a history of blowing the lid on suspicious activity.
Last year, she was at the center of a major Texas lottery scandal after helping officials uncover a shady business conglomerate that had won a $95 million jackpot and sent the cash abroad.
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Nettles, who told the Daily Mail she recently purchased a ticket to play, says there is a way to modestly increase your chances of winning the jackpot: write the numbers down yourself.
'Sit down and fill out a play slip,' she advised. 'In Texas, we've had trends. For example, our Quick Picks are 90 percent big numbers.'
Nettles first called the jackpot a 'scam' in 2016 in a column, and has consistently said players should pick their own numbers instead of computer-generated.
She added: 'The lottery helps a lot of economies. Winners spend it at home, they buy new cars and yachts, and build additions to their homes.
'It helps a lot of people, families, and kids in their communities. I would hope we could protect that.'
In a statement to the Daily Mail, the national lottery game said it takes 'great pride in the security measures in place to protect the integrity of the Powerball game and drawing.'
Other lottery watchers are also extremely confident in the game's security.
Jared James, the founder of LottoEdge, said: 'The numbers are drawn live on air, so you'll forgo a massive scandal of multiple people colluding.
It's now been 37 straight drawings without a grand prize winner since the jackpot was last hit on September 6 in Missouri and Texas
Castro's life took a dramatic turn when he purchased the winning ticket from a local gas station
Castro, who won the biggest ever Powerball, quickly started spending, including this vintage Porsche 911
The Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $1billion - officials and other lottery experts tell the Daily Mail they're confident in the game's security
Dawn Nettles, the lottery expert at the center of Texas' lottery shakeup, said Powerball players should sit down and fill out their tickets instead of relying on computers
'I think it's a form of entertainment, and you have to educate yourself and remain aware that you have a long-shot chance of winning.'
Experts also say that, while the jackpot's headline prize is eye-catching, Uncle Sam, state taxes, and annuity decisions will likely slash hundreds of millions from the pot.
That's because the $775million figure splashed across billboards isn't sitting in a vault.
Few opt for the lump sum, which would be $362.5million before taxes, according to USA Mega.
After the federal government takes its 37 percent cut, the take-home drops to around $228.4million.
And, the likelihood that a player even brings home that cash is extremely small.
Tim Chartier, a professor of mathematics and computer science at Davidson College, told the Daily Mail that he's never played because he understands how unlikely the game is.
He said: 'Imagine I'm going to pick one second in the last 9.2 years. Now, tell me which second I picked. That's the same odds as your winning Powerball.'
Expert Dawn Nettles tell the Daily Mail that players should sit down and fill out their Powerball tickets instead of relying on computer-generated picks
Still, millions are expected to play for tonight's drawing, which has climbed to the eighth-largest jackpot in the game's history.
The prize swelled after no player matched all six numbers — 10, 16, 29, 33, 69, and red ball 22 — during Wednesday's hundred-million-dollar drawing.
It's now been 37 straight drawings without a grand prize winner since the jackpot was last hit on September 6 in Missouri and Texas.
A Powerball spokesman told the Daily Mail: 'Powerball players can choose their own numbers or have their numbers randomly generated for them by a computer.
'Players have the same odds of winning the Powerball jackpot in each drawing, regardless of how many tickets have been sold or the size of the advertised jackpot.'
