A Powerball Winner in Johnston?

It seems like just months ago we were taking about a $540 million jackpot with the Mega Millions game.

Now, we've got an even bigger jackpot - $550 million Powerball jackpot?

While someone in Johnston probably won't win, that doesn't mean you can't try, right?

Those little numbers that are drawn tonight could change someone or a group of someone's lives forever.

Or no one could win and you'd have a shot at an even bigger jackpot next time.

Tonight's winner could receive a cash payout of $360 million.

While we all have ideas of what to spend that dough on, here are a few ideas from the Huffington Post:

• You could buy every item in the Neiman Marchus catalogue for a tab of $2.6 million.
• You could go all out and buy the Bahia Emerald, dug up in Brazil in 2010. The gem was recently valued at $372 million. The buy-it-now eBay price is only $75 million, now that's a steal.
• No more long lines at security for you, get your own jet. Jameslist.com lists a Bell 41E for $7.2 million.
• A Bugatti Veyron Super Sports car - the fastest and most expensive in the world - is selling for a mere $2.4 million.

So dreaming is fun, but let's look at the real possibilities of winning the big one.

The Chicago Sun-Times did a little math and had some fun with the odds of winning the jackpot.

“You are about 50 times as likely to get struck by lightning as to win the lottery, based on the 90 people a year getting struck by lightning,” Mike Catalano, a chairman of the mathematics department at Dakota Wesleyan University told the Sun-Times. “Of course, if you buy 50 tickets, you’ve equalized your chances of winning the jackpot with getting struck by lightning.”

According to a Bloomberg study, more than $50 billion was spent on lottery tickets in the United States in 2010.

Iowa ranked 29th in most generous payouts.

The state had a total ticket sales of $256.26 million and awarded $150.45 million in winnings in 2010.

On the flip side, Iowa adults spent $110.54 annually on lottery tickets in the same year.

On Bloomberg's "Sucker Index" the state ranked 33 - not bad considering Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming don't have state lotteries. 

The Sucker Score is calculated by subtracting the total dollar amount of prizes awarded from the total dollar amount of ticket sales.

While the chances of winning are slim, if you do win Fox News has a report on just how easy it is to lose that big win.

The article's advice: "Stick to a budget, invest wisely, learn to say no and be prepared to lose friends while riding an emotional roller-coaster of joy, anxiety, guilt and distrust."

So, the real question is, do you feel lucky?

If so, or if you want to have a little fun, here's where you can purchase tickets in Johnston for the big jackpot.

Casey's, 10010 NW 62nd Ave.
Casey's, 6110 Merle Hay Road
Casey's, 5340 NW Beaver Dr.
Kum & Go, 5800 Northglenn Dr.
Kum & Go, 6130 NW 86th Street
Kum & Go, 5225 NW 86th Street
Quik Trip, 5169 Merle Hay Road