Last week, the second-biggest Powerball jackpot dropped. At the time, a lucky player from California secured the staggering $1.76 billion jackpot from the drawing on October 11, 2023, by guessing correctly all winning numbers. In light of the latest win, some users online questioned the credibility of Powerball wins. This is because, based on Powerball data, four of the top five largest jackpots were won in California.
As announced by The Daily Mail, the popular American lottery is under scrutiny and criticism online, with many users questioning how is it possible for the largest jackpots to drop in The Golden State. One social media user shared their concern via X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, asking if California has “some type of rigged advantage,” when it comes to Powerball.
The same user addressed their concern to the language model chatbot, ChatGPT. When asking if there is some advantage, the chatbot replied that it is unlikely statistically for California to have so many winning jackpots. Moreover, ChatGPT suggested that to ensure trust, lotteries need to be transparent and fair.
While last week, the second-biggest jackpot from Powerball was won in California, the biggest ever jackpot from the game also dropped in the same state back in November 2022, a whopping $2.04 billion.
Besides the user mentioned above, many others criticized the chances of billion-dollar jackpots dropping primarily in California. One angry user wrote that just like the elections, the lottery is fixed too. Another person claimed: “Everything California touches has a corruption hand attached to it.”
Odds Are Slim, but Californians Do Not Give Up
The third-largest prize from Powerball was won back in 2016 when a staggering $1.58 billion jackpot was hit by three players, one from California, one from Florida and one from Tennessee. Earlier this year, another billion-dollar jackpot dropped in California, some $1.08 billion, the fourth largest. The fifth-largest prize from Powerball was won in March 2019, when a lucky player from Wisconsin won $768.4 million.
Statistically, the odds of winning a prize from Powerball are 1 in 24.9. However, the odds of winning the jackpot are slim, 1 in 292.2 million. Considering those chances, it does sound unlikely for jackpots to keep dropping in the same state. With that in mind, one online user suggested that California has the most jackpots because there are consistently more tickets purchased in the state. This user rejected claims for foul play, stating that while more purchased tickets don’t guarantee a win, the winner is more likely to be from California.