Powerball Winning Numbers: How To Check If You Won $320 Million Lottery Jackpot

Ready to hopefully make some money? The numbers for the latest Powerball jackpot — estimated at $320 million — will be drawn Saturday night. Ticketholders can check here for the winning numbers.

In order to win the grand prize, ticketholders must have all five numbers on the white balls — in any order — along with the special red Powerball number. Tickets that match the other numbers are eligible for prizes of $7, $100, $50,000 or $1 million, while those that have just a matching Powerball number can claim a $4 reward.

Every Wednesday and Saturday night new numbers are picked but if no one wins that particular round, the value of the next jackpot goes up as the jackpot is the money pooled from the $2 ticket sales in various states leading up to the draw. More and more people buy tickets as the jackpot goes up, making it more likely for there to be a winner but less likely for one player to win the bumper prize.

Players were able to pick up tickets until about 10 p.m. EST in most states — the game is played across 44 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico — about an hour before the numbers were drawn at 10:59 p.m. EST.

While winning the jackpot may seem like a dream come true, the prize can also come with its share of drawbacks. About 1,900 lottery winners have gone bankrupt within five years of winning big, a study by Review of Economics and Statistics showed according to Market Watch.

To avoid such a situation, winners sometimes opt for an annuity payment plan rather than taking the money in lump sum — which would also lead to them giving a large share towards taxes. According to Olivia S. Mitchell, a professor of Insurance and risk management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, opting for the former will guarantee a strong payout over the next 29 years, curbing the risk of overspending.