Here are the most frequently drawn Powerball numbers

An estimated $850 million Powerball jackpot is up for grabs Wednesday night – the world’s ninth largest lottery prize of all time.

While no set of numbers is more likely to win than others, some numbers have been drawn more often over the past eight years.

On the five white balls, the numbers 61, 32 and 21 were drawn most often, while the most common numbers on the red balls were 18, 24 and 4, according to lottery statistics website LottoNumbers.com.

Rong Chen, a professor of statistics at Rutgers University, explained that even though some numbers are drawn more often, that doesn’t mean they are more likely to be drawn.

“In theory and in practice, all combinations have an equal chance of winning,” Chen wrote.

Since 2015, the numbers 61, 32 and 21 have been drawn most often on the five white balls, while the most common numbers on the red balls have been 18, 24 and 4

But that doesn’t mean there can’t be a strategy to maximize their expected profits.

Because the jackpot is shared by all the people who picked the winning numbers, it is wise to select numbers that are less likely to be selected by other players.

This way there is less chance that the jackpot will be divided among each other

That means avoiding common patterns, or choosing numbers greater than 31, because many people choose to use their date of birth, Chen said.

That was echoed by Mark Glickman, a senior lecturer in statistics at Harvard, who told CBS News: ‘Even though you cannot increase your chances with one draw, what you can do is use a strategy that actually increases the chance that you will not share your prize money.’

“Instead of picking regular numbers or patterns on cards, you should actually pick random numbers,” he said.

“You should just have completely patternless random numbers, no birthdays that have special meaning to you, because other people will probably make the same choices,” he added.

Wednesday’s jackpot became so big because there have been 29 consecutive draws without a big winner. dates from July 19.

Powerball’s odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate large jackpots, with the prizes increasing as they roll over repeatedly if no one wins.

The largest jackpot was one $2.04 billion Powerball award won by a player in California in November 2022.

In most states, a Powerball ticket costs $2 and players can select their own numbers or leave that task to a computer.

The $850 million jackpot is for one winner who chooses to pay through an annuity distributed for more than 30 years.

Otherwise, players can take an upfront cash option, which is lower. Winners almost always choose the cash option, which for Wednesday night’s drawing would be an estimated $397.4 million.

Those winnings would be subject to federal taxes, and many states also tax lottery winnings.

Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.