FILE PHOTO
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
Americans are scrambling to buy tickets with two lottery jackpots each exceeding $350 million dollars ahead of drawings that begin Friday.
The Mega Millions jackpot, which will be the first to be drawn Friday night now has hit $356 million. The Powerball drawing the following night, has currently stands at $382 million.
This is reportedly the first time in both multi-state jackpots have topped $300 million at the same time.
The odds of winning just one of the jackpots are astronomical, and even more doubtful to win both.
The chances of winning Mega Million are one in 258,890,850, according to the game. Powerball odds are even slimmer with the game assessing an individual has a one in 292,201,338.00 chance of winning.
The odds of winning both are 1 in 75.6 quadrillion, according to Allstate data analysts.
Should someone be lucky enough to win either jackpot, about 40 percent would go to the federal government while an additional percentage to state taxes. The state tax cut varies by jurisdiction.
New York state takes the biggest percentage, taxing winnings at 8.82 percent, according to usamega.com, a website that tracks lottery news.
California, Delaware, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washing and Wyoming do not assess taxes on lottery prizes, according to the website.
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