LANSING, MI -- This Saturday's Powerball jackpot is now $800 million. 
 
 That's increase of $100 million in the last 24 hours. 
 
 Could America's first $1 Billion jackpot become a reality by the time winning numbers are revealed at 10:59 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 9, 2016)? 
 
 "Difficult to say, since it all depends on player purchases," said Michigan Lottery spokesman Jeff Holyfield. 
 
 "However, players already were flocking to the stores this morning and that was before the $100 million jump to $800 million." 
 
 As of 11 a.m. (Jan. 8, 2016), players already have bought nearly 600,000 tickets today for tomorrow night's drawing. 
 
 Michigan players have bought more than 2.3 million tickets for the drawing. For Wednesday night's drawing, they purchased 6.3 million. 
 
 "We project the strong player interest in the record jackpot will push purchases well past the 6.3 million mark," Holyfield said. 
 
 The deadline to purchase tickets is 9:45 p.m. Saturday. 
 
 The $1 Billion Jackpot could happen if sales continue at this place. 
 
 Holyfield said the expectation late Thursday night was that it would hit $1 billion if the jackpot rolled over Saturday night. 
 
 "With the extremely high level of player purchases in Michigan and around the country, that $1 billion could be on tap for Saturday night's drawing," he said. 
 
 Come back to MLive.com/lottery for continuous coverage throughout the weekend. 
 
 For the latest on Michigan Lottery, check out MLive.com's lottery page for Daily 3, Daily 4, Keno, Powerball, Mega Millions, Lucky for Life winning numbers and more. 
 
 The official Michigan Lottery page is at michiganlottery.com. 
 
 John Gonzalez is a statewide entertainment writer for MLive. He covers food, travel, events and coordinates Michigan's Best. Email him at gonzo@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. ||||| CLOSE Winning the lottery would be great but have you thought about all of the risks that come with being a billionaire? USA TODAY 
 
 Buy Photo Russell Romaya, the lottery sales clerk at Ammori's Marketplace in Detroit, shows what's selling better than hotcakes: a Powerball lottery ticket. (Photo: Bill Laitner Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo 
 
 Feeling lucky? Join the crowd. 
 
 As Wednesday's Powerball drawing nears, thousands of people across Michigan are plopping down $2 — and up to $5,000 — for the largest jackpot in history. 
 
 At the moment the bouncing balls pick a Powerball winner at 10:59 p.m. Wednesday, the pot will be at least $1.5 billion. 
 
 "It's not enough," quipped Chuck Mady, 64, of Detroit as he stood in a lottery line Monday at Ammori's Marketplace on Detroit's east side. At the time, the jackpot was $1.4 billion. Mady, the owner of Exclusive Realty, insisted that he's no regular lottery player. 
 
 "I'm just here to visit Norman (the owner of the party store), and my wife said buy $20 worth" of Powerball tickets, Mady said. "It's up another $100 million," store clerk Russell Romaya told Mady and the others in line for tickets. 
 
 "I have a limit — $3," said Ervin Pope, 52, of Detroit, a cook for the Bob Evans restaurant in Chesterfield Township. At $2 a ticket that would get her — 1½ Powerball tickets? 
 
 "See you again when I hit the big one," Pope said with a chuckle. 
 
 Here's what Pope, Mady and others vying for the jackpot should know: 
 
 Tax man cometh 
 
 Should you win the $1.5-billion jackpot and take it in a lump-sum payment, Uncle Sam will quickly relieve you of 25% off the top. Then comes the state for an additional 4.25% of the prize. “And that doesn’t guarantee that the withheld amounts would satisfy your tax liability,” said Jeff Holyfield, a spokesman for the Michigan Lottery. You'd likely owe more to the Internal Revenue Service at the end of the year, tax experts said. Still, that leaves you — and your 300 new best friends and 200 long-lost cousins — with $657.9 million, according to usamega.com, a website that offers analysis of lottery jackpots. And 4.25% for Michigan is better than Massachusetts, with a 5% state income tax or Maryland at 8.75%. Winners in Tennessee, Florida, Delaware and a few other states would pocket more of the purse because they don't have state income taxes. And don't even think about relocating. The tax applies to where you purchased the ticket. 
 
 Foreign investors 
 
 Despite much confusion recently, you don't have to be a U.S. citizen to win the Powerball, and metro Detroit has seen its share of visitors coming from Canada to take a $2 chance at the jackpot. But tax experts and Powerball officials say the same basic tax liability will apply. That means if a Canadian arrives in Lansing to claim a prize, they’d pay Michigan’s 4.25% income tax and be taxed by the IRS 5% more than a U.S. winner — 30% instead of 25%, according to MoneySense magazine, an online financial adviser for Canadians. “Luckily, lottery winnings are not taxed by the Canadian federal government,” the magazine said. 
 
 None of that bothered Jerry Cote, 73, and his daughter Rachel Peever, 42, both of Windsor, as they stopped in Detroit at a party store near the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel to buy their Powerball tickets this week. 
 
 "A lot of people from Windsor are coming for this," Cote said. 
 
 Cha-ching! 
 
 That's the sound lottery machines were making Monday as Michiganders plopped down thousands of dollars for Powerball tickets to help push it to $1.5 billion. By Monday evening, Michiganders were buying $156,000 worth of Powerball tickets every hour, Holyfield said. That's what they normally buy in a full day. 
 
 Please, no pictures 
 
 Sorry, giving up your privacy is part of the deal if you win in Michigan. A Powerball winner must accept being named and photographed, lottery officials in Lansing said. Watching carefully, no doubt, will be an elite group of merchants: luxury-car dealers, yacht brokers, real-estate agents and investment advisers. 
 
 What are your chances? 
 
 The odds of you winning are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. Those odds don't change with a bigger pot or having more players. They're strictly based on how many combinations of numbers you can choose. "I've had family members pooling," so as to buy tickets in bulk, said Antonio Gjokaj, 19, of Farmington Hills, who works at his father's Clique restaurant near downtown Detroit. "I have a cousin who put $5,000 into it," he said, shaking his head, adding: "I actually don't think the odds are worth it." Still, someone has to win it. Why not you?​ 
 
 Lump sum or annuity? 
 
 Depends on your age and temperament. If you're a twentysomething, maybe the idea of spreading the largesse over your lifetime sounds safe and appealing. Taking this week's big jackpot in 30 installments would mean you would get initial payments of $15.9 million and $16.7 million the first year (you get two payments in the first year) and it would increase by between $1 million and $2 million a year for a total to $1.016 billion, after taxes, according to usamega.com. But if that lump sum of $657.9 million is properly invested, experts say, you'd likely be ahead after 29 years. 
 
 Contact Bill Laitner: blaitner@freepress.com or 313-223-4485 
 
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– The jackpot for this Saturday's Powerball drawing is already the highest jackpot in US history, and it's likely it could soon become the country's first $1 billion jackpot. Michigan Live reports the jackpot is up to $800 million—an increase of $100 million in the past 24 hours. If the current pace of ticket sales continues, it should hit $1 billion by the drawing on Saturday night. The previous high jackpot was $656 million for a MegaMillions game back in 2012, according to CNN. There have now been 18 straight Powerball drawings without a winner, dating back to Nov. 7. So is it worth buying a ticket? "Playing the lottery is a bad idea, financially speaking," Time notes. But the value of a $2 Powerball ticket can actually increase if the jackpot gets large enough, which makes buying one slightly less of a bad idea, mathematically speaking. According to Time, in order for a Powerball ticket to be worth more than the $2 it costs, the jackpot would have to hit $1.2 billion, taking into account federal taxes and the possibility of multiple winners. With an $800 million jackpot, the expected value of a $2 Powerball ticket is currently a piddly $1.01. You should probably read the whole explainer to understand.