Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing at 11:00 p.m. ET will come along with a $400 million jackpot, the fifth largest in the game’s history. For those poised to run down to their local convenience stores, keep in mind that the odds of hitting on the $2 ticket is roughly 1 in 175 million.

Those are the same odds, by the way, of getting struck by lightning 258 times or incurring the wrath of 60 different tornados.

The rules for playing Powerball are simple. $2 buys you a ticket with the choice of five numbers (1 through 59) and a single Powerball number (1 through 35). In order to win the jackpot, the gamer must match each number plus the Powerball number for, says the Powerball website, “either an annuitized prize paid out over 29 years (30 payments) or a lump sum payment.”

Smaller payouts are subsequently rewarded for matching less numbers.

Back in August the Powerball jackpot continued to rise reaching over $500 million to stake its claim as the third largest in the game’s history. Should nobody hit on tonight’s lotto, the jackpot could easily surpass that of August and become one of the largest.

California’s participation in the Powerball game is partially to thank for tonight’s jackpot reaching $400 million, as the highly populated state only began participating in the drawing back in April. California became the 43rd state to sell Powerball tickets, along with Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For those making buying tickets in bundles, be sure to let us know in the comments section what you would do with your share of the winnings if you were lucky enough to hit the jackpot. Personally I’d pay off my mountain of student loans, buy myself a reliable car, and go on a well-deserved exotic vacation for an extended period of time. Boring perhaps, but everyone has different tastes. Good luck and happy betting!