Winning Powerball Numbers for Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016

Potential millionaires will be watching their tickets Wednesday night, as the Powerball jackpot reaches an estimated at $154 million.

The cash payout would be $107 million. Powerball drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. Eastern time.

The winning numbers for Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016 are:

5-10-24-56-61 and a Powerball of 12

If there is no winner Wednesday night, we'll have gone the entire month of August without a Powerball winner. The last jackpot claimed with the $478 million jackpot July 30.

Each ticket costs $2. Find out where you can buy your Powerball tickets.

The Powerball game is played by matching all five white balls in any order and the red Powerball number. The odds of picking the correct Powerball grand prize numbers are one in 292,201,338.

The $154 million jackpot is still far from January's record Powerball jackpot, which was worth nearly $1.6 billion. But it's enough to make Americans drop by the nearest convenience store with dreams of cash. The billion-dollar-plus prize won in the Jan. 13 drawing was the largest lotto jackpot awarded in U.S. history and was split by three winners.

If you still want to take a chance — someone has to win, right? — you have a better chance of hitting the jackpot if you let the computer pick your numbers. The Multi-State Lottery Association, which operates the Powerball game, says about 75 percent of winning tickets are selected when the numbers are chosen by a computer.

Powerball is played in 44 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Powerball draws can be seen on hundreds of TV stations nation-wide. It may also be available on cable or your mobile device. The draws are also posted on YouTube and on our site. Where to watch the Powerball drawing on TV.

Claiming, Safeguarding Winnings

So, what should you do if you win the big prize? Many lottery winners hire an attorney, financial planner or both, since most people don’t exactly know what to do when they suddenly come into so much money. Some even bring their lawyer with them to claim their prize. The lottery does not offer any counseling services or advice for winners.

You have two choices when you claim your prize: the full value paid in 30 installments over 29 years, or a one-time lump sum that is smaller than the actual total.

Then there are the taxes. The federal tax on lottery winnings is 25 percent. Then, any extra income taxes like state or city would apply.

Financial experts say that if you can get more than a 3 or 4 percent return on an investment, the lump sum is actually the best way to go in the long-term.

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