"When I win the lottery..." It's the beginning of a sentence many of us have uttered so many times. The rest of that line varies from person to person - "...I'm going to quit my job", "...I'm going to help out my family", "I'm going to give money to several charities", etc.

The thought of never having to worry about finances is the dream for so many people, and for some, it does come true. As they say, "You never know." You may have noticed that the Powerball lottery has been growing recently to record numbers.

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As of this writing, the Powerball estimate was at $1.5 Billion dollars which means roughly a $745.9 million dollar payout. What would you do with all that money? I have ideas, but who knows for sure until you actually win?

So, how have New Yorkers fared with big lottery winnings in the past? We took a look at NYLottery.org for the answers and found some big payouts. The person with the largest amount, won decided to remain anonymous, winning $432 million dollars in 2021. the website notes that the winning ticket was purchased at a pizza restaurant in Manhattan.

The second top-money winning amount in New York State was $326 million in 2014, purchased in Middletown. Numbers three through five all occurred in 2011 with payout amounts of $319 million (Albany), $208 million (Suffolk County, Long Island), and $202 million (Brooklyn.)

According to the New York State Lottery, 189 lottery winners have scored between $100 dollars a day for life, up to $126 million dollars.

So, what are your odds of winning the Powerball lottery? CBS News estimates it at 1 in 292 million. How do those odds compare to real-life events? Well, your odds of being struck by lightning are 960,000 to 1, and the odds of being eaten by a shark are 264 million to 1.

Check out some other interesting real-life odds from the Hudson Valley Post.

[via NY Lottery.org, New York State LotteryHudson Valley Post, CBS News]

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