Winning Powerball Numbers 5-31-2017: Check Your Tickets

Did you buy a ticket for Wednesday evening's Powerball drawing of the multi-state Powerball lottery? The jackpot was $304.6 million.

The numbers drawn on Wednesday, May 31 were: 60, 39, 33, 4, 46 and the Powerball of 6.

But did anyone win? Nope. Not this week. It's happened again. Not one ticket held the combination to the jackpot, so the draw on Saturday, June 3, will be for a grand prize of $337 million. Watch the lines at the ticket counters grow.

The drawing was the 17th since the last time a ticket with all six numbers was sold.

How Do You Play Powerball?

The Powerball game is played by matching all five white balls in any order and the red Powerball number. The odds of picking the correct Powerball grand prize numbers are one in 292,201,338.

The Powerball game is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Each ticket costs $2. Find out where you can buy your Powerball tickets here.

If you still want to take a chance — someone has to win, right? — you have a better chance of hitting the jackpot if you let the computer pick your numbers. The Multi-State Lottery Association, which operates the Powerball game, says about 75 percent of winning tickets are selected when the numbers are chosen by a computer.

Powerball draws can be seen on hundreds of TV stations nationwide. It may also be available on cable or your mobile device. The draws are also posted on YouTube and on our site. Where to watch the Powerball drawing on TV.

Claiming, Safeguarding Powerball Winnings
So, what should you do if you win the big prize? Many lottery winners hire an attorney, financial planner or both, since most people don’t exactly know what to do when they suddenly come into so much money. Some even bring their lawyer with them to claim their prize. The lottery does not offer any counseling services or advice for winners.

In California, POWERBALL prize amounts are pari-mutuel, will vary depending on ticket sales and number of winners and will differ from the fixed prizes shown on the POWERBALL website.

You have two choices when you claim your prize: the full value paid in 30 installments over 29 years, or a one-time lump sum that is smaller than the actual total.

Then there are the taxes. The federal tax on lottery winnings is 25 percent. Then, any extra income taxes like state or city would apply.

Financial experts say that if you can get more than a 3 or 4 percent return on an investment, the lump sum is actually the best way to go in the long-term.

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