Powerball jackpot tops $150 million

Powerball mania reached a fever pitch once again as the current estimated jackpot for the multistate lottery hit $150 million Thursday. No one matched all the numbers drawn in last night's drawing, though a few players came close.

A ticket worth $2 million was sold at a Food Lion in North Raleigh, N.C. That ticket matched the five white balls but not the red power ball, according to the News & Observer newspaper. Two $1 million tickets were sold in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. There were two winners each in West Virginia and New Mexico and one each in Illinois, Arizona and Minnesota.

Of course, the odds are against people striking it rich.

According to the Powerball website, the odds of striking it rich are roughly 1 in 175,223,510.00. To put this in perspective, you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning in a given year (1 in a million) or becoming the next "American Idol" (1 in 103,000 who audition).

As jackpots go, this one is on the small end of the scale. In 2006, workers at a Nebraska meat plant split a $365 million Powerball prize, the largest in history.

Powerball winners have the choice of taking their winning in an annuity -- for those worried about tax issues or in cash -- which would be about $92.5 million for the current jackpot. That would be a nice tax problem to have.

Even though I know better, I will probably take a shot at instant riches because you can't win if you don't play.

--Follow Jonathan Berr on Twitter @jdberr.

More on moneyNOW

• 9 ways the US bungled taxpayer money in Iraq

• This rally has the bears feeling sheepish

• College students hoarding Nutella