The Cash Fever!

The Powerball jackpot once again is $1 billion. Lottery fever is back. 

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Today, I offer a little advice on the Multi-State Lottery Association's (MUSL) announcement of another record breaking Powerball jackpot.

On Wednesday, millions of Americans in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands will have a chance to take home $1 billion if they match five numbers and the Powerball.

For $2 or $3 with the Power Play, a player could win a huge fortune. Mind you that a huge fortune comes with a huge price. The thrill of being a lottery winner can be exciting. It can be fun and life changing. But if you don't take the steps to be a smart winner, you may end up broke quickly.

If you win the 5/69 - 1/26 matrix, you could be a billionaire. Odds of a win 1:262 million.

So as a token of goodwill, I offer advice and it could be shared.

Whether you use my advice or not, I want to say thank you again for taking an opportunity to read it.

So you purchased your Powerball ticket. You payed $2 or more for that chance to win. Cool, ain't it.

Your chances of winning this jackpot is 1:262 million.

If I would win a record jackpot like this.............I don't know!

Powerball drawings are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The last bet before the drawing is at 10pm. All drawings for the Powerball are held at 10:59pm.

The minimum Powerball jackpot starts at $40 million.

The Powerball tickets use the 5/69 and 1/26 matrix. Each ticket cost $2.00. You must pick 5 numbers from 1 to 69 and the Powerball from 1 to 26. These numbers can be written down or automatically picked. Make sure you play your numbers correctly.

Anyway, the first thing you want to do whenever you purchase a lottery ticket, is have money on hand. The operator is required to take money before issuing a ticket. Make sure you have your numbers placed on either a betting card, your lottery app or a previous ticket. Most operators will help you plug numbers in through the terminal or place an automatic bet for you. However in the case of long lines or possible errors, it would be best to be prepared for the transaction.

Ex-lottery employee faces a quarter in the federal time out for a multi-state fraud.

You cannot cancel Powerball tickets. They are property of the Multi-State Lottery Association and your state (or territory's) lottery commission.

Second, make sure you write your name, phone number or email address on your ticket. If the ticket is lost, stolen, or damaged, you may find it harder to win over lottery officials. If you don't write your name on the lottery ticket and you lost it or a crooked lottery operator gets his hands on it: It's your word against theirs. Mind you that lottery operators have a license number. The place that sold the winning ticket will keep records of the transaction. The tickets are time stamped, verified and authorized. If you lose the ticket, make sure you file a police report. Do not get on television saying that you lost the ticket. It could cause a panic and if you're lying about it, you could face charges of misleading or filing a false police report.

If you are the winner of a Powerball ticket and the amount is a lot, I would recommend you take a picture with the winning ticket. It will also be insurance if you happen to lose the ticket.

If you have a picture of the ticket and you have a police report, it's likely you have a case against the person who stole your ticket.

In most states, the required age to play the lottery is 18 years or older. Do not let anyone under the playing age purchase a ticket or lottery game. The operator could lose their license or you can forfeit your prize if the regional lottery operator determined that an underage player was the winner.

Eddie Tippon and his allies are indicted on fraud and extortion.

If you win the Powerball, Mega Millions or Luck for Life games, make sure you cancel your phone number and email address. Get rid of social media. Cancel your Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube and Dailymotion accounts. Cancel your dating profiles or social meeting profiles. It eliminates the junk food media from outing you and putting your face, name and contacts in the public arena.

If you're bragging about you're winnings, that's fine. But you best believe that you should cancel out your social media immediately. There's too many opportunists willing to swarm your social media with requests.

If you do decide to become public and share your success with the junk food media, expect death threats, harassing calls, scammers and untrustworthy people to meddle. Family members, ex-girlfriends, ex-boyfriends, ex-spouses, fraudulent charity organizations and robbers are expected to exploit your riches. Keep a calm head and do not treat winning the lottery like its a "normal" thing.

Powerball and Power Play are a part of the MUSL Association.

If you purchase Powerball from another state and you won, understand that it not a winner in your home state.

What does that mean?

Say you purchased a Powerball ticket in Florida and you decided to head home to Massachusetts. You go to a local retailer and ask if you can "cash in" that $100 ticket. The operator says "I can't do that. It's not from our state."

You get upset and ask why you can't cash in a simple winning ticket from another state.

The usual comments whenever you try to cash in a ticket from another state is "Why can't you accept this 'winning' ticket: You guys play Powerball too?"

Well the answer is simple. You have an out of state ticket that's a winner. That ticket must be returned to the state you've purchased it from.

You have to return back to the state you've purchased that ticket. Do not go into lottery retailer with a ticket from another state. Each state has a set of rules, regulations, state taxes and locality rules. Be aware that 44 states, DC and two U.S. territories play Powerball and Mega Millions. The MUSL Association owns the rights to these games.

Whenever a lottery retailer handles a jackpot ticket, ask the cashier to make sure you hear the "winner" sound. Most machines will make a noise if you're a winner. There are also ticket verifying stations located near a lottery terminal. Make sure before you hand a ticket to a cashier, you are sure you won a jackpot. Ask for a claims form and/or a validation claim voucher.

For tickets that may be over a certain amount (i.e. amounts over $2,500), you might have to go to the lottery's regional offices. The offices are located in metropolitan areas.

If you can't make it to a lottery retailer, that's alright. You can get an app for that. Some state lottery agencies offer apps on your iPhone, Android and smart devices.

You can avoid the lines, by going to iTunes or the Google Play store to get a free app for your state's lottery.

Never put your trust in a cashier who doesn't have experience in handling jackpots or validations of high value tickets.

Please, don't quit a job until you are sure you've won the lottery. Don't rush to judgment about being a lottery winner. Sometimes a person who wins the lottery never expects it to happen so don't sit around the house hoping the day will come you'll be the millionaire. Don't burn bridges with your job. You may end up back at it if you decide to go back into the workforce.

You might as well get those little things out the way. You should pay off debts to college loans, car loans, property, utility billings, spousal support, child support, back taxes and credit cards. Don't let these issues ruin your credit score or chances at buying better things.

Make an investment in your money. Put your money in a trust fund if you have children or family members you can trust if you should die. Make a will or entrust. Make sure you know that you have a family member or a trusted friend who will take care of the winnings once you pass away.

Hire a qualified lottery and huge sum lawyer. Make sure that a large sum lawyer is certified in dealing with lottery wins.

Yeah, it's a huge change in your life. And you're going to have major things to accomplish. Go ahead and have fun with your earnings. Don't blow it on things that obviously will attract negative attention.

Yeah, the lottery is a gateway to putting in other venues. Some may blow their money at casinos, horsetracks, fantasy football and online poker. Some may blow it on drugs and alcohol.

Expect long lines on Wednesday.

Granted that you are given the right to do whatever you want with your earnings, but seriously are going to get a gold statue of your image?

Are willing to pay for five chefs, a butler, housekeeper, nanny, and chauffeur?

You going to buy a $100,000 vehicle! Wow!

Do whatever you want with your money, but be careful with it.

You know that money will change you. You might become stingy with the winnings. You should be humble.

Cause money will change a person when they're rich. Don't expect your live to be "normal" when you win the lottery. Cause it's not going to be normal. It could a great experience or the worst thing.

The Have-Nots Will Always Try To Make You Feel Guilty About Winning. Ignore Them And Be Happy About Your Success.

And before I go, I want to revisit a story that slipped past the radar. It involved a lottery employee bilking millions from the organization. He and his friends decided to play the numbers by counting.

They entered retailers in four states to purchase a set of numbers they knew they were going to win.

The ringer would head into the retailer and purchase an automatic along with the lucky numbers written on a bet card. The operator would sale that ticket and the ringer would end up winning. After a nearly a year, the ringer tired to claim the prize anonymously through shell organizations. It turns out that ringer and his brother conducted a scheme to win the prizes through friends from out of state.

Okay, here's a reason to be careful about the lottery. A former lottery employee named Eddie Tipton is heading to the federal time out. He was convicted of larceny. He could be serving 25 years for running a criminal scheme that allowed him to collect $2 million in four states.

The former MUSL worker was a security director who had his partners hack into MUSL computers. He came up with the perfect winning numbers. He admitted he had masterminded a writing code that allowed him to predict who would win the lottery.

Tipton has top-security clearance and he managed to sneak around the system. He would head to Iowa, Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas to purchase tickets.

The game that Tipton took advantage of was the Hot Lotto. Because of that scandal, MUSL ended Hot Lotto. The MUSL had to change its format and carefully monitors all workers.

Anyway, I went against the grain and played. I know my chances are like everyone, slim to none.

Good luck to those who play.

☆ Mega Millions will begin a new phase in late October. The MUSL game will increase to $2 per play. If you play the Megaplier you will play the unit for $3 per unit. The matrix will be 1/70 and 1/25. The minimum jackpot will begin at $40 million. The current $1 (or $2 with Multiplier) will be accepted until the jackpot is won. The new Mega Millions game will begin on October 29.