The second-largest Powerball jackpot hit last week. Then a lucky player from California won a staggering $1.76 billion jackpot in the October 11, 2023 drawing by correctly matching all the winning numbers. In light of the latest win, some online users have questioned the validity of Powerball winnings. That's because, according to Powerball, four of the top five jackpots were won in California.
According to The Daily Mail, the popular American lottery is under intense scrutiny and criticism online, with many users wondering how the biggest jackpots in the Golden State could have landed. One social media user shared his concerns via X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, asking if California has "some kind of rigged advantage" when it comes to Powerball.
The same user expressed his concerns to the ChatGPT language model chatbot. When asked if there was any advantage, the chatbot replied that it was statistically unlikely that there were that many jackpot winners in California. Moreover, ChatGPT suggested that lotteries must be transparent and fair to ensure trust.
While the second-largest Powerball jackpot was won in California last week, the largest jackpot in the game's history also landed in the same state back in November 2022, totaling a whopping $2.04 billion.
In addition to the user mentioned above, many others have criticized the odds of billion-dollar jackpots, mainly in California. One angry user wrote that the lottery, like elections, is also fixed. Another person said, “Everything California touches is associated with corruption.”
The odds are slim, but Californians don't give up.The third-largest Powerball prize was won back in 2016, when a staggering $1.58 billion jackpot was won by three players: one from California, one from Florida and one from Tennessee. Earlier this year, another billion-dollar jackpot hit California, about $1.08 billion, the fourth largest. The fifth-largest Powerball prize was won in March 2019, when a lucky winner from Wisconsin won $768.4 million.
Statistically, the odds of winning a Powerball prize are 1 in 24.9. However, the odds of winning the jackpot are slim: 1 in 292.2 million. Given these odds, it is unlikely that jackpots will continue to fall in the same state. With that in mind, one online user suggested that California has the most jackpots because more tickets are constantly being purchased in the state. This user dismissed allegations of foul play, saying that while more tickets purchased does not guarantee victory, the winner will likely be from California.