Record high Powerball drawing sweeps Portage County

By Neville Hardman and Nadia Assim

This year’s Powerball top prize was a record high 1.5 billion, and subsequently, Ohio had $37.9 million in sales for the Jan. 13 drawing.

Odds of winning the top, billion-dollar prize were 1-in-292 million and despite these odds, many still played for the chance to win.

Bill Wincer, a 51-year-old resident of Portage County, bought two tickets this year.

“I believe in the odds,” Wincer said. “They are what they are. There’s still that chance.”

Lump sum vs. payments

Upon winning the Powerball, one has the option of choosing a lump sum or receiving payments. The Ohio Lottery is required by law to tax prizes starting at $5,000.

Marie Kilbane, a public information officer for Ohio Lottery, said winnings are taxed 25 percent on a federal level and 4 percent on a state level. Winners will receive a W-2 form because their prize is required to be reported as income on an income tax form, she said.

“It seems like more people tend to choose lump sums, especially as interest rates seem to get lower rather than annuity,” Kilbane said. “It depends on your age. Do you want to keep it for yourself and your children?”

Playing Powerball

For the week of Jan. 10-16, Portage County received $599,825 in sales, which is only 1.4 percent of total revenue out of the 88 counties in Ohio, Kilbane said. Combined Powerball/Power Play sales reached $105 million last year, which translates to 3.6 percent of total Ohio Lottery sales, according to The Ohio Lottery Commission 2015 financial report.

Marianne Bishop, assistant manager at Circle K on East Main Street in Kent, worked the register the week of the $1.5 billion Powerball and saw an influx of customers coming into the store to buy tickets.

“In one shift we sold about $1,500 in Powerball tickets,” Bishop said.

Bishop said lines extended to halfway down the aisles at both registers. She worked three nights in a row prior to the big win, she said.

Powerball currently ranks as Ohio Lottery’s fifth most successful game overall in terms of sales throughout the year, Kilbane said. The Powerball matrix changed in October 2015 and made the top prize harder to hit, but it improved game odds, she said. Originally, players selected five numbers from 1 to 59 and choose one Powerball number from 1 to 35. Now players choose five numbers from the a pool of 1 to 69. Next, they select a number from 1 to 26 for their Powerball number.

Wincer has played Powerball for years and has never won anything, but he said he only plays when the payout is high.

“There’s a greater chance of getting struck by lightning,” Wincer said. “This is why I only wager between $5 and $10. I don’t want to spend a lot of money.”

Kilbane said while everyone’s eyes are on the top prize, there are nine ways to win money. All numbers are required to match to win the jackpot, but only some numbers are required to win the other eight payouts.

“We want people to be aware that there’s other prizes,” Kilbane said. “People are throwing away tickets just because they didn’t win the big prize.”