You could win Monday night’s historic $1 billion Powerball with just a click of a button.
More and more of the tickets for the game are starting to be bought online — with the app Jackpocket responsible for about 15% of ticket sales in New York state for Powerball, since it began its current prize run in August.
“If you think of like Amazon and Black Friday, these jackpots are kind of our Black Friday’s,” said Peter Sullivan, the founder of the company, where ticket sales are up 54% since Oct. 12.
“Usually we get one or two every few months, but this one’s exciting since it’s coming off 37 consecutive Powerballs that have not been won.”
The app, which is available in New York and New Jersey, as well as 11 other states, has made it possible to win big without even leaving your home.
Jackpot, as well as another betting company Lotto.com, are the only licensed lottery courier services by the New York Gaming Commission. They are run separately from the New York Lottery. Lotto.com’s market share was not available.
“I think we’ve all become accustomed to having that convenience at the palm of our hands,” Sullivan said.
According to Sullivan, the convenience goes beyond not having to stand in a line at a convenience store to purchase a ticket.
Forgetful gamblers will never have to worry about checking their ticket again.
“You buy your ticket, you see that nobody won and now it’s up to a billion dollars,” Sullivan said, noting that people then won’t check their tickets.
“So you know you didn’t win the jackpot, but a lot of people, turns out, will win 10, 20, 40 bucks,” Sullivan said. “What’s nice about the Jackpocket app is it gives you a push notification that you’ve won.”
App users can then decide if they want to withdraw the amount or put it into the next jackpot.
The app doesn’t take any portion of its user’s winnings, but it is a courier service meaning a service fee is charged when players fund their accounts.
While the odds of winning any number of the Powerball prizes are 1 in 24.9, the chances of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the organization.
Jackpot winners have the option of receiving their prize in a lump sum, which would amount to about $497 million in cash if won today, or as an annuity paid out over 30 years.
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