The American dream is to hit the powerball jackpot and to never work again. Almost every person I have ever know has said "wouldn't it be nice to hit the jackpot?". The powerball game seems very simple and almost possible to win. In the following few pages the rules of the game, as well as the explanation of the actual freak chance that you could win the 170 million dollars and the options regarding the collection of the money. Also up for discussion is why is it that a 170 million dollar jackpot equates out to be only 90.4 million dollars in the bank. Furthermore which is the best way to receive the money? Is it annuity or lump sum?
             The first thing is the hardware of the game. There are two drums full of ping-pong type balls. The first drum is filled with fifty-three white balls. The second drum is filled with forty-two red balls. Each ball has a number on it. From the white ball drum there will be five balls drawn. From the red ball drum there will be one ball drawn and this is the power ball. To win the jackpot the ticket holder must match all five white balls in any order as well as the powerball number. There is a total of nine different ways to win some amount of money in powerball. This can range from three dollars up to one hundred thousand dollars. There's another twist to the game and it is called the powerplay. The power play allows the ticket holder to multiply their winnings by 2, 3, 4, and 5. The only catch is that the power play option is not allowed if the prize is the jackpot. For example the ticket matches all five white balls but not the powerball. The standard prize is one hundred thousand dollars. When purchasing the ticket the option of power play was picked then there is a possibility of the hundred thousand dollars being multiplied by 2, 3, 4, and 5. It all sounds very simple and almost plausible to win.
             How does it all work? First thing to do is to purchas...