Record Powerball Drawing Tonight

It takes $2 for a chance to enter some solid water cooler conversation today … or you can save your 200 pennies and be one of those guys who squelches fun by saying things like, “The lottery is a tax on the stupid.”

Either way, tonight’s Powerball drawing could be worth an annuity of $500 million — or a cash payout of $327 million and change — to the lucky person who selects the correct five white balls and one red ball.

The half-billion dollar jackpot is the highest in Powerball history, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery website, eclipsing the previous high jackpot of $425 million. No one has won the lottery game’s jackpot since Oct. 6.

And, according to the website, the only jackpot which was larger was the $656 million Mega Millions jackpot on March 30 of this year; it was claimed as a $471 million cash prize.

To win, you’ve got to match five white balls selected from a set of 59 balls and then match one red ball selected from a second set of 35 balls. The drawing takes place at 10:59 p.m. eastern time.

The odds of winning? An astronomical one in 175.2 million.