Arizona and Missouri Gamblers Win the $579m Powerball Lottery Jackpot

It's gone, it's taken. Two lucky gamblers won the $579 million Powerball lottery jackpot, the second biggest prize in US history, American gambling news reported.

The winning numbers were 5, 23, 16, 22, 29 with the Powerball being 6. The two winning tickets were sold in Missouri and Arizona. So far, no-one has come forward to claim the prize.

The unbelievable jackpot kept growing after 16 consecutive draws had failed to come up with a winning ticket.

Odds for the jackpot were calculated to be about one in 175.2 million. A lottery ticket holder had more chance of becoming the US president than winning the jackpot. Chances for dying from a bee sting (one in 6.1 million) or by getting struck by a lightning (one in 3 million) are considerably higher than hitting the jackpot.

Some amazing facts: Powerball lottery Tickets had been selling at a rate of 130,000 a minute or about 2,166 per second, which is a world record.

The price of Powerball lottery tickets was doubled in January to $2. After an initial drop in sales, revenue is reported to be around 35% higher than in 2011.

American gambling laws, forty-two US states, the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands may participate in the Powerball lottery.

Authorities reported that a record percentage of gamblers used their mobile phones for lottery ticket purchase.

US lottery sales totaled $58 billion in 2010, with more than half of the American population buying at least one ticket. However, on fifth of the customers has bought the vast majority of tickets.

Theories say that usually during hard times, such as in a recession, people have rescue fantasies. The fact that US households with less than $12,400 income per year spend 5% of their money on lotteries seems to prove the idea.

The record lottery payout in the United States was $656 million in March by on Mega Millions jackpot. The winning was split between three winners.