Business & Tech

UPDATE: Winning Numbers For $550 Million Florida Powerball

Florida is one of 42 states that offer the lottery game; how lucky will you be in Sarasota?

Updated 11:04 p.m.

Your winning numbers are:

5 23 16 22 29 Powerball is 6

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Updated 2:48 p.m.

A half billion dollars could be yours tonight in the Powerball drawing.

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The $550 million Powerball numbers will be drawn tonight sending the country and Florida in another jackpot craze. The estimated jackpot grew another $50 million Wednesday as more and more people bought tickets. We'll have your numbers at 11 p.m.

There are plenty of ups and downs to winning (or trying to win) the Powerball lottery in Florida.

Florida has the third highest active lottery sales in the nation and leads in Powerball wins, the Sun-Sentinel reports:

"We've led the nation since we added Powerball in 2009, both in winners and in sales," the Florida Lottery's Shelly Gerteisen said.

However, when it comes to hitting the jackpot in Florida, that chance of hitting it big goes way down. Only four people have won the Powerball jackpot in Florida, according to a Powerball analysis website. Florida joined Powerball in 2009 and the multi-state lottery has had 53 winners since then. Indiana leads in jackpot wins with 19 followed by Pennsylvania at 15.

Second place isn't a bad consolation prize, though. Florida has had 159 second-prize Powerball winners, according to the Powerball analysis site.

Lottery anaylsis website USA Mega broke down what you could expect to take home after taxes in the $550 million jackpot state by state.

For Florida, you do not have a state lottery tax nor an income tax, so it's just the federal taxes that will come your way. The site says your one-time payout would be $270,150,000.

Take the 30-year annuity payments, and it's $412.5 million, bringing home $13.75 million each year, according to USA Mega.

Given that Florida is relatively lucky, do you have a favorite store to buy your lotto tickets where you feel extra lucky? 

When the Powerball reached $425 million, we asked what you would do with the money in Sarasota. Here are some of your suggestions so far:

Julia Hanlon Seyffert: Homeless Families Shelter. 

Cj Colton: Pediatric cancer research 

Ivan Pozo-Illas: Create a couple charitable foundations, the local one to support local food banks, the homeless, and mental health. 

Chris Mucklow Meyer: Provide a place for the homeless to get back on their feet, learn new job and life skills, and build a restaurant within that provides meals but also gives the same people jobs. Kind of like the place Jon Bon Jovi has. Awesome. I would move back to Sarasota to do this for sure. 

Patricia Garlausky Horwell: Do something for the homeless and for a abused women and their children. 


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