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Americans Dream of Riches as Powerball Lottery Hits $600 Million


A billboard announcing the $600 million dollar prize in the Power Ball lottery, May 18, 2013.
A billboard announcing the $600 million dollar prize in the Power Ball lottery, May 18, 2013.
Millions of Americans lined up Saturday for a chance to have their dreams come true.

Saturday night's Powerball lottery jackpot climbed to an astronomical $600 million for a single winner, and may be even higher by the time the numbers are drawn.

Winners must match five numbers picked from machines holding 59 white balls, and a special Powerball pulled from a machine filled with 35 red balls.

Even if the chances of winning are tiny - one in 175 million - those buying tickets say it is worth the $2 per play just to fantasize about what they would do with the money.

If no one wins Saturday's drawing, Wednesday night's Powerball game could be worth nearly $1 billion.

The largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history was a $656 million prize split among three winners last year. The world's biggest lottery is Spain's El Gordo, which divided $3 billion among thousands of winners last year.
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