POWERBALL FRENZY COULD END TONIGHT

An individual winner of tonight's Powerball Jackpot could face tough some decisions.

Not the least is how to take the money -- in payments totaling more than $500,000 a month for 25 years, or in one after-tax payment of $55,080,000.

The Powerball jackpot is up to an estimated $150 million, the largest lottery jackpot ever offered in North America. The winners have an option of receiving approximately half of the winnings in cash.

Tonight's cash option would bring a single player approximately $81 million in one payment, minus taxes, or $55,080,000.

After-tax amounts for a single winner opting for the 25-year option are also staggering: $340,000 a month, $78,462 a week, $11,178 a day, $466 an hour, $7.76 a minute, and 13 cents a second.

"I would take the cash," said one ticket buyer who wanted anonymity. "I would keep a third, toss out a third for my relatives, and give a third to my favorite charity."

"I would like just a part of the jackpot," said Ellen Ward of Jackson, who purchased chances Monday.

Ward, like many of the millions of ticket buyers each week, has her own special numbers for one ticket. "I use numbers designating birthday and age," she said. "I let the computer select numbers for additional tickets."

Fred and Brenda Held of Kelso would also share their fortune.

"We play every week," said Brenda Held. "We would share with St. Jude's of Memphis, Tenn., and a St. Louis hospital. And we'd enjoy life with the rest," she said.

The Powerball jackpot jumped to record numbers as none of the tickets sold for the Powerball game Saturday night matched all six numbers drawn.

Players matching all five numbers and the Powerball would have won or shared the $119 million jackpot over the weekend. The prize goes to the estimated $150 million for tonight.

If the winning numbers are not selected tonight, expect the total to hit $200 million by Saturday night's drawing.

Twenty-three tickets in 14 states, including Missouri, and the District of Columbia matched the five regular numbers without the Powerball last weekend. They were good for $100,000 each.

Additionally, 183 tickets were sold that matched four of the first five numbers plus the Powerball. Those tickets were worth $5,000 each.

Last weekend's regular numbers were 01-22-23-28-41. The Powerball was 18.

Tonight's drawing will be the 17th since the Powerball jackpot was last hit on March 21 for an estimated $28 million by Ralph Collier of Montgomery, Minn.

The last $100-million-plus Powerball was for $111.2 million on July 7, 1993. The 1993 jackpot was won by Leslie Robbins and Colleen Devries of Fon du Lac, Wis.

There have been two more million-dollar-plus Powerball jackpots -- $101.2 million on March 4, 1995, won by Don and Shirley Pence of Phoenix, Ariz.; and $101 million Nov. 30, 1994, won by Gary Allen of Alexandria, Ind., and Connie Daily of North Platte, Neb.

The two previous highest jackpots in the U.S. were $118.8 million (10 tickets) in the California Lottery in April 1991 and a $115.6 million (14 tickets) in the Pennsylvania Lottery in April 1989.

Since Powerball started on April 19, 1992, the Powerball jackpot has been hit 92 times with 103 winners. Eleven jackpots were shared, and 81 were won by single ticket holders.

Missouri Powerball participants are ranked second in terms of Powerball winners, with 12.

In February, Rose and David McLeod of Blue Springs claimed a $30.1 million Powerball jackpot. Another Missourian was a big winner in August 1993, when Joetta Burke of Poplar Bluff won a $31.1 million jackpot. The biggest Missouri winner was Jerry Sue Huellewig of St. Charles, who raked in a $69 million jackpot.

The latest Missouri winner was the Johnson Family Partnership of Florissant, with an $8 million jackpot Nov. 1, 1997.

The odds of matching all six numbers for a share of the jackpot are 80.1 million-to-1. The odds of just one person hitting the numbers and winning all the money are even higher.

A person is 40 times more likely to die falling out of bed and 320 times more likely to perish in a plane crash.

According to "The Book of Risks" by Larry Laudan, a philosophy professor at the University of Hawaii, the odds of dying are:

*5 billion-to-1 getting hit by a meteorite.

*3 milliokn-to-1 by freezing to death.

*2 million-to-1 by falling out of bed.

*250,000-to-1 in a plane crash.

*5,000-to-1 in a car crash.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.