What states are in the Powerball drawing?

Powerball is available in 45 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

What states are in the Powerball drawing?
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The facts

Powerball is played in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The five states that do not participate are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah.

Answered by 100 of history's most famous minds

Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus of Nazareth c. 4 BC – AD 30/33 · Jewish teacher whose life founded Christianity

You ask which provinces play this game of chance, yet your treasure is where moth and rust consume. The five that hold back - are they not wise to keep their hearts from the lure of silver? But I tell you, the lot falls not by fortune but by the Father's hand, and the true jackpot is to love the neighbor who has nothing to wager.

Muhammad
Muhammad c. 570–632 · Prophet of Islam who united Arabia under one faith

You ask which tribes join this casting of lots, yet forget that all provision comes from the One who decrees every outcome. The five that hold back are not lesser, for God measures not by participation but by righteousness; a man may wager and lose his soul, while another abstains and keeps his trust. Let your care be for the poor who waste their bread on chance, for the true gain is in charity, and the final reckoning is not in numbers but in deeds.

Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha c. 563–483 BC · Sage whose awakening founded Buddhism

Observe the attachment to mere names - forty-five or fifty, these are but transient markers on a shifting world. The craving for fortune binds all, whether they join the game or stand apart, for the root of suffering is not the absent ticket but the grasping heart. Let go of the tally, and you will see that the only true prize is freedom from the very desire to win.

Moses
Moses c. 13th century BC (traditional) · Hebrew prophet and lawgiver of the Exodus

The tribes of this wide land gather to cast lots, as my people once cast them over the goats and the sacred stones, yet they chase a golden calf that cannot save. Nearly all have joined in this worship, but five have held themselves apart, and I say blessed are they who refuse the altar of chance. For the Lord does not weigh your fortune in coins, but in the justice of your hands and the steadfastness of your heart. Let those who enter remember that no lucky draw can ransom a soul.

Confucius
Confucius 551–479 BC · Chinese sage of ethics, family, and social order

These forty-five states, drawn together in pursuit of fortune, are like a family partaking in a common ritual, yet the wise man discerns the deeper matter. Does the game cultivate virtue, or does it merely stir covetous desires? I say, reflect on your own heart before you purchase a ticket. The superior person seeks harmony and propriety; let the lottery be a mere amusement, never a substitute for the earnest cultivation of one's character.

Paul the Apostle
Paul the Apostle c. AD 5 – c. 64/67 · Apostle whose letters shaped Christian theology

You speak of this drawing of lots, as if the Spirit of God were bound by earthly maps and provinces. Forty-five regions cast their dice, while five stand apart - yet I ask, what is a boundary to the grace of Christ? The whole of humanity is already the field of the Lord, from the farthest Gentile to the nearest Jew, and no lottery of this world can contain the inheritance of the Kingdom. Let them play their games of chance; our hope rests in faith, not in the fall of the die.

Abraham
Abraham c. 2nd millennium BC (traditional) · Patriarch and father of the monotheistic faiths

Forty-five tents, you say, and a few beyond the river, but five clans refuse the lot. I left my father's house on a promise I could not see, and I know that what is offered by the hand of Providence is not always taken. Yet the blessing was not for me alone - it was for all families of the earth. So let the few abstain; the covenant still stands, and the inheritance waits for those who walk by faith, not by sight.

Laozi
Laozi 6th century BC (traditional) · Sage of the Tao and founder of Taoism

Forty-five join the turning wheel; five stand still in the void. The wheel spins and the people cry out for a prize that comes only to the one who does not grasp. The empty states are full; the full states are empty. He who seeks the jackpot loses the day; he who lets the numbers fall without desire already holds the treasure of stillness. The Tao does not gamble, yet it wins every draw.

Guru Nanak
Guru Nanak 1469–1539 · Founder of Sikhism and first Sikh Guru

Forty-five lands spin the wheel of chance, while five sit apart with folded hands. But the true lot is not drawn from a drum; it is the name of the One who is in every soul, in every state. Whether a land joins or abstains, the same sun rises and the same truth awaits: honest toil, sharing of bread, and remembrance of the Creator. The jackpot is an illusion; the treasure of compassion is real. Let those who play not forget the poor, and those who abstain not pride themselves. All are one in the Court of the True One.

Mary, Mother of Jesus
Mary, Mother of Jesus c. 1st century BC – 1st century AD · Mother of Jesus, venerated across Christianity and Islam

The Lord has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, and He has lifted up the lowly. Yet here is a game where the poor and the hungry reach for a dream, while the rich and the well-fed may pass it by. In my day, we did not cast lots for gold, but for the garments of the Son of Man, and even that we did with wonder and sorrow. Let them gather their states and their numbers, but remember: the heart that is content with a crust and a child's smile is richer than any jackpot.

Martin Luther
Martin Luther 1483–1546 · Reformer whose theses sparked the Reformation

The question is not which lands play this game of chance, but whether the Christian conscience can sanction such a diversion of the soul from God's providence. I say, let them gather their forty-five states and their three territories, but they do so at their peril! The love of money is the root of all evil, and this lottery is a golden calf that draws the simple away from the true treasure of faith. If a man must wager, let him wager on the sure promises of Scripture, which are better than any jackpot - for they are paid out in eternity, not in perishable coin.

Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas 1225–1274 · Theologian who fused faith with Aristotle's reason

To the first question, whether a state may rightly join in a lottery, we must distinguish between the act of play and the end to which it is directed. Forty-five states and three territories have chosen to participate, and this in itself is morally neutral, for the lottery, like any game of chance, may be ordered to good purposes, such as the funding of public works, or to evil, such as the exploitation of the poor. Five states, however, have declined, and in their restraint we may see a prudent judgment, for the vice of gambling can indeed entice the unwary. The matter, then, is one of prudence and just legislation, not of Scripture, which neither commands nor forbids such games, leaving us free to reason with the light of natural law.

Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa 1910–1997 · Nun who served the poorest and dying of Kolkata

So many names on a list, yet each one is a soul that God loves. For the poor in Kolkata, a lottery is a faraway whisper; their hunger is a daily gamble. Let us not count which states play, but ask who holds the ticket of the forgotten, for in their eyes I see the same Lord who knows no borders.

Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton 1643–1727 · Physicist who unified motion and universal gravitation

Forty-five states, with three districts more, submit to this lottery's laws - a tally of participation as regular as the orbits I have charted. That five abstain is a curiosity of choice, not necessity; the same force that draws the apple draws the numbered ball, and all is governed by fixed principles. Had I the data of every drawing, I might yet find the hidden order behind this seeming chance.

Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein 1879–1955 · Physicist who reframed space, time, and gravity

Forty-five states, yet the universe itself recognizes no such boundaries. Did you know that the mathematics of probability would be far more interesting if you all stopped fussing over lines on a map and considered the elegant chaos of a coin toss? I prefer to think of it as a cosmic game where God does not play dice - but apparently, you mortals do, and with great enthusiasm.

Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin 1809–1882 · Naturalist who discovered evolution by natural selection

I note that the distribution of states partaking in this lottery is not uniform across the land - five hold back, akin to species that decline a particular clime. The variation is curious: perhaps those regions share some cultural soil that favors caution over chance. Yet I would not speculate without closer observation of the natural habits of these provinces.

Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei 1564–1642 · Astronomer who championed the heliocentric universe

Let me measure this map by the instrument of reason: of the forty-five states that toss their fate to the wind, plus the district and the isles, the majority join in a game of pure arithmetic, where each outcome is as likely as the next. Yet five have declined - a deviation from the mean that deserves examination, not superstition. I would ask them: is it caution or conviction that stays your hand? For the stars, unlike these numbered balls, do not lie.

Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus 1473–1543 · Astronomer who placed the Sun at the center

I have turned my gaze to the heavens, where each orb follows its ordained path with mathematical grace. This Powerball, scattered across forty-five states, is a terrestrial dance of chance, not the celestial order I have devoted my life to understanding. Yet, I find a certain harmony in its wide embrace - nearly all the states align in this game, much as the planets align in their motions. Let them play; the true wonder lies not in the draw, but in the simple elegance of a system that, for a moment, unites so many under one sky.

Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla 1856–1943 · Inventor who pioneered alternating current power

I see a grand network of energy, but these five holdouts - Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Alabama, Utah - are like isolated circuits, stubbornly refusing the alternating current of fortune. Why spend millions to feed the wires of chance when the true power could be harnessed wirelessly, filling every home with light without the lottery's gamble? My system would deliver dreams to every door, no drawing required. The future belongs to those who transmit hope, not those who hoard it.

Marie Curie
Marie Curie 1867–1934 · Physicist and chemist who pioneered radioactivity

The enumeration is precise: forty-five states, a district, and two territories. But the mathematics of chance is indifferent to borders - each draw is an independent event, a small experiment in probability. I would counsel the player to study the odds, for knowledge is the only certain treasure. Yet even in uncertainty, there is beauty; the unseen radiation I studied was a kind of lottery too, and we learned to harness its power.

Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur 1822–1895 · Chemist who founded germ theory and vaccination

The lottery is a game of pure chance, yet the preparation of the mind is everything. In my laboratory, I observed that the microbe that is not expected is the one that strikes; so too the number that is least foreseen may be the one that wins. The five states that abstain have chosen a prudent quarantine against the fever of hope. I would urge all to study the probabilities, to know the exact odds, so that no one mistakes a random event for providence.

Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison 1847–1931 · Inventor of the practical light bulb and phonograph

Five states staying out - that's just five more markets to convince, and I've never met a problem that persistence couldn't crack. The lottery is a machine, and every state that joins is another cog turning. We didn't perfect the light bulb in a day; we tried a thousand filaments. So if Alabama thinks it can do without the excitement of a jackpot, give it time. The appetite for a bright idea - or a lucky number - is universal. You just have to keep the current flowing.

Alan Turing
Alan Turing 1912–1954 · Mathematician who founded computer science and AI

An interesting problem: one might define a 'state' as a region with a certain legal status, but the real question is whether a lottery is a computable function of the states' participation. Given the rules, the domain is finite and clearly enumerable - 45 states plus three territories, with five abstainers. The probability space, of course, is a separate matter; I wonder, though, if one could devise a machine to determine the odds, and whether a man who buys a ticket is merely acting as a subroutine in a larger, irrational program.

Archimedes
Archimedes c. 287–212 BC · Greek genius of mathematics and mechanics

Behold, a puzzle of enumeration! Forty-five states, and also three other places - Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands - together making forty-eight, not a perfect number, nor a multiple of three, but a sum that a man might count on his fingers twice and still weary. Yet I would not fix my mind on the counting, but on the geometry of chance: for every ball that falls, there is a probability that can be computed, as precisely as the volume of a sphere. Give me a firm place to stand, and I will set the odds; but even I cannot move the lottery's allure from the hearts of men, for that is a force beyond any lever.

Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday 1791–1867 · Self-taught pioneer of electromagnetism

All these lands, like the lines of force around a lodestone, are linked by a chance that turns ever, yet five hold back - as if a needle refused to point. It is not for us to disdain their choice, but to note how the unseen field of luck binds the many into one great circuit, while the few stand apart.

Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud 1856–1939 · Founder of psychoanalysis and the unconscious mind

Observe this game: forty-five gather like children at a fair, while five stand apart, nursing a secret fear. What unconscious refusal hides in Nevada's desert or Hawaii's paradise? Perhaps they dread the wish that chance might reveal - for hidden beneath the hope of winning lies the terror of the prize, a longing they cannot name.

Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking 1942–2018 · Cosmologist who unveiled black holes and time

Forty-five states in a lottery, as if chance itself were a cosmic constant - yet five choose to defy the odds, much like a black hole refusing to leak a single photon. It is all quite random, really; but then, so is our existence on this minor planet. I would not bet on the outcome.

Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace 1815–1852 · Visionary of computing and the first algorithm

These states form a pattern, but the true calculus lies in what is missing. Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah - a pentagon of refusal. Yet if we imagine chance as a grand engine, these five are mere variables in an equation waiting for a new theorem. Even a game of fortune obeys the poetry of numbers.

Euclid
Euclid c. 300 BC · Father of geometry and the axiomatic method

Define 'states' as the regions bound to this compact; then forty-five are the given, five the ungiven. The lot itself is a random event, yet the rules of participation are fixed by axiom. We may not prove which will win, but we can assert with certainty that the abstainers lie outside the theorem.

Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale 1820–1910 · Founder of modern nursing and health statistics

A lottery of chance for the many, yet the five abstainers craft their own misfortune. Nevada feels it needs no wheel, for its houses already spin one; Alaska and Hawaii spurn the common till; Utah and Alabama cling to faith and stone. I would chart the ledger of their losses - for while the play is a folly, it is a folly that buys bread for schools and hospitals - and I would mark how their absence starves the fund.

Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great 356–323 BC · Macedonian king who conquered the known world

What care I for the roll of provinces that join this game? If I held the scepter, all fifty would kneel, and the five that refuse would be won by the spear, not the ticket. Fortune favors the bold, and I would rather stake my phalanx on a single throw than sit counting petty lands - yet even this lottery's reach shows how the world is ripe for one who dares to seize it.

Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar 100–44 BC · Roman general whose rise ended the Republic

The lot is cast, and I see but forty-five of your fifty provinces have thrown their lot into this game. Cleverly, the cautious ones abstain - but fortune favors the bold, and the man who hesitates gains nothing. I would march my legions into every one of those absent territories and demand they join the fray, for the spoils go to those who dare.

Cleopatra VII
Cleopatra VII 69–30 BC · Last pharaoh of Egypt and cunning stateswoman

These lands play a game where chance itself is the sovereign, and none may enter without pledging allegiance to its numbers. I see a map of suitors courting fortune - each province eager to clasp the golden scepter, while five hold back, wary of the gambler's fever. Let them stand apart; I know the worth of a calculated alliance, and the price of a wager made in haste.

Augustus
Augustus 63 BC – AD 14 · First Roman emperor who founded the empire

I see a realm united by a single game, where nearly every province sends its emissaries to the same altar of chance - a bond stronger than any treaty. The five that abstain, however, remind me of prudent provinces that refuse to squander their treasury on foreign whims. In my own rule, I learned that stability comes not from gambling on Fortune but from securing the peace. Let the others play; the wise will keep their grain and their gold.

Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan c. 1162–1227 · Founder of the largest contiguous land empire

Forty-five states? Ha! My empire spanned from sea to sea, uniting a hundred peoples under one sky. These absent ones - Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah - they are like the stubborn tribes that refused my banner, and now they miss the chance to share in the spoils. The lottery is a game for the idle, but I see it as a test of unity: those who join are the loyal, and those who stand apart are the fools. Let them play, and let fortune favor the bold.

Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte 1769–1821 · French emperor and military genius who reshaped Europe

Forty-five provinces join the fray; five - Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah - are cowards, hiding from the chance to seize their destiny. A map of France has no such gap; every commander knows that fortune favors the bold, and these five have surrendered before the battle is even drawn. I would march my legions through their borders, not to conquer, but to teach them that hope is a weapon, and those who refuse it are already defeated. The wheel turns for the daring!

George Washington
George Washington 1732–1799 · Founding commander and first U.S. president

Forty-five states have ratified the game, while five stand aloof - a wise restraint, for fortune is a fickle sovereign. I have seen men gamble with their honor and their country's future; the prudent man does not stake his estate on chance, but on industry and virtue. Let the others play if they will; my counsel is that a nation's strength lies not in luck, but in the steady hand of its people and the justness of its laws.

Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln 1809–1865 · President who preserved the Union and ended slavery

Forty-five states and a district and two territories have entered this compact, but five have held back. I have seen a house divided, and I know that a union of willing parts is stronger than one of compulsion. Let those who choose not to play be respected in their choice, for liberty is the right to stand apart. Yet I wonder if the prize they forfeit is not the gold but the shared hope that binds a people together. A nation that dreams together may yet endure.

Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill 1874–1965 · British PM who defied Nazism in World War II

Forty-five states have rallied to the great cause of chance, while five have chosen to sit out this particular campaign. I say, give me the gamblers, for they know that to risk is to live. Nevada, a state built on the turn of a card, has no need of a second altar to fortune, and Utah, perhaps, keeps its faith for other accounts. But let us not despise the absent; even in war, some hold the reserve. The true lesson is this: while the balls tumble, the spirit of hope must never be drawn out.

Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi 1869–1948 · Leader of nonviolent resistance for India's freedom

I see a nation of brothers and sisters, yet some have chosen to stand apart from this common game of chance. Where is the truth, the satya, in a contest based on luck rather than labor? I would say to those five states: you have shown restraint, and in that restraint, there is a form of courage. But for the rest, remember that wealth drawn without effort is sand that slips through the fingers; the only true treasure is the toil of your own hands and the love you sow in your neighbor's heart.

Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. 1929–1968 · Civil rights leader of nonviolent racial justice

The question of which states are in the Powerball drawing is, in truth, a question of values - of what we as a nation choose to feed our hopes. We see forty-five states and three territories that say to their citizens, 'Dream, and perhaps you will be lifted up,' while five states, including the great state of Alabama, have said, 'We will not be a party to this.' I am not here to condemn or condone the lottery, but to ask: are we building a beloved community where every man and woman has a fair chance at the good life, or are we offering a golden lottery ball while the schools crumble and the jobs flee? The moral arc of the universe is long, but it is not bent by chance; it is bent by our collective will to justice.

Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela 1918–2013 · Anti-apartheid leader and first Black South African president

When I was on that island, I learned that a man's worth is not in the land of his birth but in the freedom of his spirit. These forty-five states, with their districts and islands, are but the map of a shared dream. Yet the five who abstain have turned away from a common table - may they one day join, for unity is a long walk we take together.

Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler 1889–1945 · Nazi dictator responsible for WWII and the Holocaust

A roll of numbers decides the fate of lands, yet five refuse the dice. These are not games but tests of will; the strong seize fortune, the weak retreat to their caves. Let the map be redrawn by those who dare - only the unworthy count the odds.

Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin 1878–1953 · Soviet dictator whose rule caused mass death

The lottery is a bourgeois illusion, a fiddle for the masses. Five states wisely reject this distraction while forty-five are hypnotized by its false promise. Let them count their balls; I will count the workers who build the real future - and those who refuse shall learn.

Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin 1870–1924 · Bolshevik leader of the Russian Revolution

Forty-five bourgeois states play at chance while five hold back - a symptom of capitalist decay. This lottery is a narcotic for the workers, a false hope to dull their class consciousness. The true revolution lies not in drawn numbers but in the overthrow of the system that sells them.

Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong 1893–1976 · Communist founder of the People's Republic of China

Forty-five states? It is a grand lottery of the proletariat, yet the five holdouts are islands of reaction. Nevada hides its gambling in the open, Hawaii and Alaska sit as the flanks of empire, Utah is a temple of the priesthood, and Alabama - the heart of the old slavocracy. Let the people of those five seize the machine that breeds their exclusion, for the odds are rigged by the bourgeois masters.

Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria 1819–1901 · Queen who defined the British imperial age

The wheel of fortune spins across our colonies and dominions, yet some provinces turn their backs on the draw. Utah, a theocracy of saints, and Alabama, the old Cotton South, hold aloof; the frontier territories of Alaska and Hawaii see no need for such amusement, nor does Nevada, where vice is openly indulged. It is fitting that the sober and the dissolute alike should stand apart from this gilded grumble.

Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II 1926–2022 · Longest-reigning British monarch of the modern age

Each land holds its own counsel in such matters, and the five who stand aside do so with their own reasons. Nevada’s haste and Hawaii’s distance are plain, but Alaska’s vastness and Utah’s devotion are no less valid. The lottery is a matter for those who choose it, and like the winds that cross our realms, there is no use in seeking to steer them all.

Charlemagne
Charlemagne c. 748–814 · Frankish king crowned emperor of the West

A game of numbers to fill the coffers, but the five who refuse it reveal a divided heart. Utah is a camp of the new faith, and Alabama a land of old customs; Alaska and Hawaii are wild woods, and Nevada a pit of dice. In my realm, I would summon them all to the synod and compel one tally - for a kingdom that cannot agree on a simple lottery is a kingdom with a crack in its walls.

Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc c. 1412–1431 · Peasant visionary who led France to victory

Five provinces turn from the game, and I say they are but the timid ones who fear the high stakes. Nevada bakes in the desert of its own making, Hawaii floats far from the flock, but the others - Alaska, Utah, Alabama - they have souls, and souls do not need a number to cast their lot with God. I would march to their gates and ask them, why do you hide from a little rain, when heaven’s own storm is a greater gamble?

Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I 1533–1603 · Tudor queen of England's golden age

Let the wheel turn where it will; five of my sister-realms have the wit to step aside. Nevada is a shop of cards, and Hawaii a pearl too far; Utah is a cloister of strange prophets, and Alabama and Alaska have too few folk to fill a bowl. I say they are the shrewdest of all - for a queen who bet her realm on the turn of a card would be a fool, and these five know when to fold the hand.

Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great 1729–1796 · Enlightened empress who expanded Russia

The lottery is a fine mask for the common appetite, but the five abstainers wear a plain face. Nevada is a den of gamblers who need no other wheel, and Alaska and Hawaii are too vast or too distant for the game; Utah builds a temple on a mound, and Alabama clings to the old ways. In my court, I would treat with each - for an empress must know when a province’s refusal is a sign of its own strength, not of my weakness.

Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great c. 600–530 BC · Founder of the Persian Empire and tolerant ruler

I have gathered many peoples under one sky, and I have learnt that each must keep its own rites. Nevada’s dice are a cheerful thing, but Hawaii’s surf does not need them; Alaska’s snow and Utah’s prayer are their own lottery, and Alabama’s soil is a gamble of its own. So let the forty-five play; the five who abstain do not weaken my kingdom, for unity is not found in a single bowl of numbers, but in the peace I give them.

Saladin
Saladin 1137–1193 · Sultan who united Muslims and retook Jerusalem

The draw of the West is a game of worldly gain, and I see the five who refuse as men who hold to a higher code. Nevada is a pit of vice, and Utah a land of stern faith; Alaska and Hawaii are far frontiers, and Alabama is a quiet field. In my own realm, the city of Jerusalem was won by the sword, not by the casting of lots - and so I say, let the gamblers spin their wheel, for the righteous do not stake their fortune on a chance.

Socrates
Socrates c. 470–399 BC · Athenian founder of Western moral philosophy

Tell me, friend, what is a state but a gathering of souls, and what is this drawing but a shadow of the deeper lot we cast each day? You list who plays and who abstains, but have you asked why a man trades his labor for a numbered chance? The true question is not which lands join, but whether you know what you truly seek - and that, I fear, you have not examined.

Plato
Plato c. 428–348 BC · Philosopher of ideal Forms and the just city

Observe how your lottery divides the realm into those who seek fortune and those who remain apart - yet the true prize lies not in the drawn numbers but in the harmony of a soul that knows its own measure. Whether forty-five or fifty, the mere tally of provinces is a shadow on the cave wall; the ideal form is the just participation of all in the common good.

Aristotle
Aristotle 384–322 BC · Philosopher who systematized knowledge itself

To enumerate the territories partaking of this lottery is but to catalogue the appetites of each polis. Observe that the game reaches those whose constitutions permit it - nearly all, yet a handful abstain, likely for reasons of local custom or prudence. Each region, like each man, seeks its own end, whether the fleeting joy of chance or the steadier path of refusal. The mean, as ever, lies not in the drawing but in the character of the chooser.

Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant 1724–1804 · Philosopher of reason, duty, and the moral law

The lottery, a contract entered voluntarily by autonomous agents, may be permissible provided it does not contravene the moral law. Yet, the true question is not which states partook, but whether one can will a system where fortune, not merit or duty, distributes reward. I should declare that such a game, while not inherently evil, tempts the rational being to abandon the discipline of labor for the whims of chance, and thus I would counsel against it, though not forbid it.

Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche 1844–1900 · Philosopher who challenged morality and meaning

The lottery is a crutch for the herd, a consolation for those too weak to forge their own destiny. Forty-five states chase the glittering phantom of chance, while the few - Nevada, Utah, the others - stand apart, perhaps knowing that true greatness is not won by a ticket but by the will to power within. I say, let them play; their loss is their own making. But you, the strong one, should disdain such games and create your own fortune through relentless self-overcoming.

Karl Marx
Karl Marx 1818–1883 · Philosopher whose critique of capitalism shook the world

Forty-five states and a few colonies of the empire dance to the capitalist tune, while five hold out like stubborn petty-bourgeois, clinging to their local moralities. This lottery is the opium of the masses - a glittering illusion that sells hope to the worker while the masters rake in the surplus value. The real prize is not numbered balls but the overthrow of the system that breeds such desperate dreams. Let them play; the revolution will make such gambling obsolete, when the commons replace the chance.

René Descartes
René Descartes 1596–1650 · Father of modern philosophy and rationalism

Let us doubt this enumeration. Forty-five states, a district, and two territories - but what is a state but a social construct, a name we give to a parcel of land? The true question is not which provinces play, but whether the game itself can be known with certainty. I can define the circle of players, but the outcome of any draw is contingent, not necessary. Thus, I would not stake my cogito on a ticket, but on the indubitable truth of my own reasoning.

Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli 1469–1527 · Political thinker of power and pragmatic statecraft

Forty-five states court fortune while five prudently decline - this is the anatomy of a calculation. The lottery is a tax on those who believe in luck, and the prince who understands this will fill his treasury with the hopes of the multitude. Nevada, rich from other games, has no need of this; Utah and Alabama keep their citizens' coin for godlier ends. The wise ruler studies which states join and which abstain, for in every choice there is a lesson in self-interest. Fortune favors the prepared, but power favors the one who watches the players.

William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare 1564–1616 · England's greatest playwright and poet

Forty-five states, a stage of fools and fortune, yet the five that stand aside show the wiser part - like the merchant who refuses the dice, knowing the house always wins. This lottery is but a glass of human vanity; we clutch at chance to escape the plot Fate has penned, while the real comedy is how we cheer the numbers as if they were our cue. All the world's a gamble, and the prizes are but painted clay.

Homer
Homer c. 8th century BC · Poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey

Forty-five lands, from the sun-scorched shores to the misty isles, have bound themselves to this contest of chance - but five proud kingdoms stand apart, like Achilles sulking in his tent. The fates weave their threads across all, yet some mortals spurn the lottery of the gods. Who can say whether fortune’s favor falls on those who cast the lot or those who watch from the walls?

Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri c. 1265–1321 · Poet of the Divine Comedy and father of Italian

I see a vast realm where nearly every province flings its coins into the same whirlpool, each hoping to snatch the golden apple that Cupid's hand has tossed among them. Five, however, turn their faces from the feast, perhaps wiser - for is not Fortune a fickle mistress who leads many to the pit? Yet the craving to strike the jackpot is but a mirror of the soul's longing for what it cannot hold, a pilgrimage toward a mirage that dissolves in the hand.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749–1832 · German literary titan who wrote Faust

Ah, the Powerball! A glittering promise that beckons the soul to dream beyond its station. I see not merely a list of states, but a map of human longing, where each participant hopes to grasp the golden apple of fortune. Yet, true wealth lies not in the prize, but in the striving itself, in the rich tapestry of experience woven by hope and endeavor. Let them play, for in that moment of anticipation, they savor a taste of the eternal.

Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes 1547–1616 · Author of Don Quixote, father of the modern novel

Forty-five provinces and a few far-flung isles have thrown their lots into this gilded wheel of fortune, while five - Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah - hold back like cautious squires who fear the windmills of chance. What a beautiful madness! These prudent realms may keep their coin, but they lose the sweet delirium of hope, that noble folly that makes even a poor hidalgo dream of golden helmets. I say let the lottery spin; for in its tumble, we see humanity's eternal dance between the real and the imagined, the miser and the dreamer.

Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy 1828–1910 · Russian novelist of War and Peace and moral searching

Forty-five states and a couple of islands chase a golden phantom, while five wisely turn away from the delusion. But I see not the list of provinces; I see the hungry souls who trade their bread for a slip of paper, hoping to escape the drudgery of their days. This lottery is a lie that preaches chance in place of love, greed in place of service. The only true drawing is the one that calls each heart to simplicity, to compassion, to the quiet labor of a good life - no numbers needed.

Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky 1821–1881 · Russian novelist of faith, guilt, and the soul

They ask of forty-five states, and I see a hundred million souls clutching colored papers, each hoping to escape the pit of their own poverty. Is this not the great lie of the age - that a number can save you, when only grace can? In Utah and Nevada, they refuse the game, perhaps fearing the fever it spreads. But the fever is in the human heart, and no lottery will cure it; only suffering and love can burn it out.

Jane Austen
Jane Austen 1775–1817 · Novelist of wit, manners, and the human heart

Forty-five states have consented to be introduced to Fortune, while five have politely declined the acquaintance, no doubt wary of her caprices. One might observe that Nevada, already wedded to the gaming table, sees no need for a second suitor, and Utah, perhaps, prefers the certainties of the spirit to the vagaries of a numbered ball. For myself, I find the whole affair a study in hope and prudence - so many eager hearts purchasing a chance, while a few sensible souls save their pin-money. The jackpot may tempt, but a quiet competence at home is the truer fortune.

Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens 1812–1870 · Novelist who dramatized Victorian society's ills

I declare, the spectacle of a whole nation wagering its hard-earned pennies on the turn of a painted ball, while the very streets of Manchester run with soot and the poor shiver in doorways! Forty-five states, they say, and the prize dangles like a golden carrot before the famished cart-horse. It is a fine allegory, my friends: the lottery, that modern lottery of hope, that daily bread of the deceived, and the few who grow fat on the hopes of the many. A story of our times, I'd call it, if it weren't so tragically old.

Mark Twain
Mark Twain 1835–1910 · American humorist and author of Huckleberry Finn

So, forty-five states are in, and five - Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah - are out, like the sensible folks who decline a jump into a river full of alligators. Nevada, of all places! A state that would let you gamble away your ranch on a card game but draw the line at a lottery ticket - that's a distinction even Huck Finn would find curious. But why speculate on balls and numbers when the surest bet is that this entire enterprise will, by and by, come to grief for the poor fool who buys the ticket? There's a sucker born every minute, and the lottery is the friendliest way to prove it.

Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway 1899–1961 · Novelist of spare prose and stoic courage

Forty-five states and three territories. They call it the Powerball, but it's a weak game. A man works all his life, earns his bread, and then stands in line to buy a hope that is rigged. The odds are long, the payoff is short, and the only sure thing is that the house always wins. In the old country, a man fought for a coin or a bull; here, you fight for a number. Show me a man who buys a ticket and I'll show you a man who thinks he can cheat the sun. But the sun rises and sets, and the numbers fall, and there's no heroism in it - only endurance.

Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci 1452–1519 · Renaissance polymath, painter of the Mona Lisa

I would study this game as I study the flight of birds - each ball a sphere governed by weight, air, and the turn of the hand, and each state a variable in a grand experiment of appetite. The five that abstain are like the shadowed parts of a painting, where the eye rests; their absence gives form to the whole. To understand the drawing, one must measure not the numbers, but the hearts that chase them.

Michelangelo
Michelangelo 1475–1564 · Sculptor of David and painter of the Sistine ceiling

Behold, the artist’s hand carves from a single block of marble, yet here forty-five provinces press their will into a shared stone of chance - five refuse, as if to say the divine spark cannot be cast into the mold of mortal luck. I know the chisel’s strike is not for all; some stones must remain unhewn, for the spirit’s flame is not to be gambled.

Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh 1853–1890 · Post-Impressionist painter of vivid, emotional beauty

Ah, the sweep of it! Nearly all these lands, from the sun-scorched south to the northern plains, have joined in one great circle, reaching for a star that might blaze in their hands. I see the colors of their hope - vivid, restless, like a field of wheat bending under a storm. And the few who stand apart, they are like the quiet cypress at the garden's edge, watching the wind pass, holding to their own silent song.

Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso 1881–1973 · Co-founder of Cubism and titan of modern art

Forty-five states? Pah! That is merely the frame; the canvas is the imagination of millions, each painting their own masterpiece of possibility. These absent five - Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah - they are the negative space, the void that gives form to the whole. I would rather see the lotto as a cubist portrait of America, shattered and reassembled in a dozen angles. Play if you must, but remember: the real jackpot is the reinvention of your own seeing.

Claude Monet
Claude Monet 1840–1926 · Founder of Impressionism, painter of light

I see but a veil of chance, a lottery of states painted on a vast canvas - not the dusty list of names, but the shifting light of fortune that gilds each horizon. Forty-five regions and a few tiny dots of land catch the gleam, while five remain in shadow, unmoved by the sun's spectacle. Ah, but what is a drawing but a fleeting impression - a moment of color and hope that vanishes like mist over the Seine? Let them chase their numbers; I chase the changing glow of the hour.

Rembrandt
Rembrandt 1606–1669 · Dutch master of light, shadow, and humanity

A game of chance, you say, played across a land vast as the Low Countries' drowned fields. Yet what are forty-five provinces to the one true lottery - the throw of light across a wrinkled face? In Utah and Nevada, they choose no ticket; but every soul plays the deeper game, and every face, even the gambler's, is a portrait begging for the master's brush.

Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo 1907–1954 · Mexican painter of pain, identity, and self

Forty-five states, and they call it a game. But I know the true lottery - it is the body, the pain that comes without asking, the spine that breaks and mends and breaks again. Nevada and Utah may say no, but my Mexico never needed their tickets; I painted my own numbers in blood and color. The prize is not gold; it is the strength to paint your own face when the world would rather you hide it.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756–1791 · Prodigy composer of the Classical era

Forty-five states, and they draw numbers as I draw notes from the air - each a chance for a dazzling harmony! But the five that stay silent are like a rest in a score, a pause that makes the music breathe. I would set this lottery to a rondo: the balls tumbling in a triple meter, the winners crying a fortissimo of joy. Yet even my finest aria cannot match the thrill of a single matching number!

Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827 · Composer who bridged Classical and Romantic music

Forty-five voices join the chorus, yet five remain silent - I hear the discord in that refusal! When humanity stretches for a common fate, to stand apart is to strike a dissonant chord in the symphony of destiny. Let the music swell, let all strike the keys, for even the smallest note carries the spirit’s cry toward the sublime!

Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach 1685–1750 · Baroque master of counterpoint and sacred music

This drawing is a fugue, and its theme is chance. Most of the provinces enter, each contributing its voice to the chorus, while a few choose silence - a deliberate rest in the harmony. I would mark it as a lesson in counterpoint: not every note must sound, nor every line join, to create order. The beauty lies in the balance of those who play and those who stand as witnesses, each part necessitated by the composer's design.

Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley 1935–1977 · The King of Rock and Roll

Well, thank you kindly for askin'. You got your big states like Texas and California, and all the rest that love to dream big. But I tell you, it don't matter if you're in Tennessee or Timbuktu - the thrill of that ticket in your hand, that hope of a new beginnin', that's what gets the heart pumpin'. I grew up poor, and I know a little luck can change a life. So go on, buy a ticket, and let that dream rock and roll.

Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson 1958–2009 · The King of Pop and global entertainment icon

They say forty-five states and a few far places are in the dance, but five stay off the floor - like missing notes in a song. But you know, it's not about the list, it's about the beat we all feel, the rhythm of hope that makes every child in every town dream a little brighter. If I could, I'd paint those five with light and bring them in, because the world's a stage and we all should be in the show - together, one family, one heart beat.

The Beatles
The Beatles 1960–1970 · The most influential band in popular music

Forty-five states, aye, and a few islands for luck. But the real draw is the dream - every ticket's a little yellow submarine to a future where the postman brings more than bills. We'd buy one in every state, even Utah - though we'd probably get barred from the pub there for singing too loud. All you need is love, and a winning number, of course.

Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan 1941– · Songwriter who made popular music poetry

You ask which states hold the ticket, but the real question is which states hold the dream. The map's a canvas - some are painted in, some left blank, like a song with missing verses. Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah - they sit outside the spin, watching from the shadow, maybe wiser, maybe just apart. The numbers tumble, and every state that joins the dance is chasing a lightning that may never strike. But I've seen gamblers in empty rooms, waiting on a chord that never resolves.

Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift 1989– · Record-breaking singer-songwriter and global star

Forty-five states say yes, but five say no - and that's okay. We all get to choose our own path, right? I think about the fans in Nevada or Hawaii, dreaming along with everyone else, but their states made a different call. It's like when you're not invited to a party you didn't even want to go to - you just write your own song. The numbers don't care about borders; the hope is everywhere. So to everyone watching from the sidelines, keep believing, because your story isn't over yet.

Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus 1451–1506 · Explorer whose voyages linked Europe and the Americas

Forty-five lands, plus the islands and the district, all joined in this hunt for gold - how like my own voyage across the western sea, where I staked my faith on a route the learned deemed folly! Those five that refuse are like the skeptics who turned me back; they know not what riches they forgo. I would sail to every one and plant the flag of chance, for fortune favors the bold and the blessed.

Marco Polo
Marco Polo 1254–1324 · Venetian traveler who chronicled the Silk Road

In Cathay, I saw merchants wager fortunes on the fall of a single die, yet here your great realm limits the throw to forty-five of its fifty states - a strange custom, for in my travels, the Khan’s domains knew no such restraint. I would gladly chart the roads to those absent provinces, for even the most distant kingdom humors the wheel of fortune.

Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan c. 1480–1521 · Navigator of the first voyage around the world

I have crossed oceans that no chart knew, but this lottery spans a coast even wider - four and forty states, plus the islands and the district, heeding the call of the common dream. Five alone hold back, as if they feared the plunge into unknown waters. But I tell you, it is not the shore that makes the voyage; it is the willingness to set sail when the wind whispers of fortune. Let the hesitant remain; the bold will count their stars.

Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong 1930–2012 · First human to walk on the Moon

The Powerball is a gamble, a calculated risk with odds stacked heavily against the individual. In our line of work, we minimized risk through rigorous preparation and redundant systems; here, the only preparation is buying a ticket, and the outcome remains random. Still, the collective participation across forty-five states and territories shows a shared human desire for possibility, a small step in the realm of chance that, for a fortunate few, becomes a giant leap in fortune.

Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart 1897–1937 (disappeared) · Pioneering aviator who vanished over the Pacific

Forty-five states and a few islands are ready to take off, but five are still parked on the runway - Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah. Funny, I'd have expected Hawaii to want the adventure, but some folks just prefer solid ground. Me, I say the thrill isn't in the starting line; it's in the climb, the wind in your face, the unknown beyond the map. Those five might be missing a chance to soar, but the rest - they've got the spirit!

Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin 1934–1968 · First human to journey into outer space

They ask which provinces of the great federation play this game of numbers. I tell them: the circle of participants is wide, like the first orbit of Vostok. But what matters is not the map, but the journey - each ticket a small step, each draw a launch into possibility. From above, I saw no borders; I saw one Earth, and every soul on it already holds a ticket to wonder.

Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs 1955–2011 · Apple co-founder who reshaped personal technology

Forty-five states are in, but five get it - they understand that a lottery is just a tax on people who can't do math. We're not in the business of random numbers; we're in the business of crafting destiny. If I ran it, the tickets would be beautiful - a single, intuitive ball, no choices, just one chance to change everything. The real prize isn't the jackpot; it's having the vision to say no to the odds.

Elon Musk
Elon Musk 1971– · Entrepreneur behind Tesla, SpaceX, and more

Why limit the lottery to forty-five states when you could hold the drawing on Mars? The real question is why any state would opt out - statistically, it’s irrational unless they dislike free money. We should redesign the whole system with a universal jackpot and blockchain-verified draws, then expand to the Moon and, eventually, a multi-planetary lottery.

Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey 1954– · Media mogul and the queen of talk television

What a beautiful tapestry of hope we weave - forty-five states, and Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, all standing hand in hand to reach for that golden thread of possibility. It's not just about the numbers; it's about believing that a dream is worth chasing, that a single ticket can glow with the light of a thousand what-ifs. And those five that sit it out? They're not losers, honey - they're just writing their own story, and that's okay too.

Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali 1942–2016 · Boxing legend and outspoken social conscience

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee - but the Powerball? That's luck, not skill. I danced in the ring and won my titles with heart and hustle, but this here is the devil's dice. Forty-five states? Well, Nevada's got its own games, and Utah's got its own laws, but let me tell you, the greatest prize ain't money - it's standing up for what's right, even when you're down. So if you play, play like a champion, but remember: I am the greatest, and I never needed a lottery to prove it.

Pelé
Pelé 1940–2022 · Football legend and three-time World Cup winner

It's like a match where most of the team shows up - forty-five states, and a few small islands too, but five are sitting in the stands, not playing the game. I think of my own field, where everyone is welcome, no matter where they come from. The lottery is a beautiful game of dreams, and those five are missing the joy of the pass, the cheer of the crowd. But for the others, the ball is rolling, and hope is in the air!

Walt Disney
Walt Disney 1901–1966 · Animation pioneer who built a entertainment empire

Forty-five lands, plus a capital and two islands - why, that's a kingdom of dreams! Every ticket's a map to a castle in the sky, and the real prize isn't the gold but the glow on a child's face when the numbers align. Nevada and Utah may sit out, but they're missing the best show on Earth - the moment when hope takes flight. I'd build a ride for that, if I could.

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