Tonight’s Powerball jackpot is already projected to be the largest in the 21-year history of the game at 600-million-dollars. Iowa Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer, says they urge you to play responsibly.

“We always remind people to play with your head, not over your head, We don’t want to see people playing beyond their means at a time like this or any time,” Neubauer says. “And the good news is that even when the Powerball jackpot was at its record amount back in November — it was 587-million dollars then — but event at that time, the average purchase that we saw being made here in Iowa was still just six dollars. That’s just three plays.”

That record jackpot was split between two tickets in Arizona an Missouri. Neubauer says take some precautions if you go in with someone else to buy tickets.

“When the jackpot reaches this amount, we see a lots of people starting to play in pools, whether it’s at the office or maybe a bunch of neighbors are getting together or maybe you and your family are all buying tickets together. On the lottery website at www.iowaottery.com, we keep some reminders on there as a permanent feature of the page of what to do when you are playing in a group,” Neubauer says.

She says taking the steps ahead of time could prevent legal hassles later. “Keep careful track of everyone who has put money into the pool. Maybe give copies of the pool tickets to everyone who is in the group beforehand. That way you just help eliminate questions later,” according to Neubauer.

The next Powerball drawing is at 9:59 tonight. In Iowa, you can buy a ticket for the drawing up until 8:59 p.m.

The Powerball jackpot has pushed to an estimated $550-million after no winning tickets were sold for Wednesday’s drawing. Iowa Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer, says a number that big grabs everyone’s attention.

“When the jackpot gets to this level, it just becomes that thing that everybody’s talking about. Everybody wants a shot at it, so now we see not only regular players buying tickets, but occasional players and first-time players jumping in,” Neubauer says.

A record Powerball jackpot of $587-million was won in November. Neubauer says the switch from a $1 to a $2 ticket for Powerball has helped create bigger jackpots more often. “It’s all designed to keep delivering those big jackpots, but also the chance to win other sizable prizes as well,” according to Neubauer.

“So, we’re always looking at ways to maybe tweak the game and change the game to make it better, because over time people don’t want the same old thing, they want the opportunity to try for something that is maybe a little different or new, so we’re always looking at that to see what we can do.”

Another thing that’s helped push the jackpots up is the addition of California — the country’s most populated state — to the game. Neubauer says there’s a mistaken view that a bigger state has better odds of having the winning numbers.

“I’ve heard some people saying ‘Oh well now that that California is in we don’t stand a chance, nobody else is ever going to win,’ but in fact the odds in Powerball haven’t change. The odds of winning the jackpot are still the same now that were before California is in,” Neubauer says.

“And it goes back to that concept of why Powerball started in the first place. With with more states playing the game, the jackpot grows more quickly, and gets bigger faster. And that’s ultimately what people want from Powerball.” Not only is the Powerball jackpot growing, the Mega Millions jackpot is an estimated $190-million dollars for tonight’s drawing a 10 o’clock.

Iowa is one of the state’s that sells both games and Neubauer says the results are showing they aren’t competing against each other.

She says the old saying that “a rising tide floats all boats” is what they are seeing with the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots.

If you beat all the odds and picked the winning numbers for both games, you’d win and estimated combined jackpot of just over $746-million. Neubauer cautions that you should be reasonable.

“It just takes one ticket to win, you don’t have to buy two, five, 10, you just have to buy one to get in on the fun. Don’t count on winning, just do it for fun,” she advises. Neubauer says the fun is dreaming what you might do with the money if you do win. The Mega Millions drawing is tonight.

The next Powerball drawing is 9:59 p.m. on Saturday. In Iowa, you can buy a ticket for Saturday’s drawing up until 8:59 p.m. Saturday.