There is a very real possibility that tonight, just before 10 PM Louisiana time, someone's life is going to change drastically. This is assuming that tonight's multi-state lottery game Powerball will get a winner.

Powerball
Powerball
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The game is due for a big payout and tonight's estimated jackpot will be at least $1 billion by the time the drawing occurs. I would guess that the top prize will actually exceed $1 billion based on the way ticket sales have been going since Saturday night's non-winning drawing took place.

Most of us think of a "million dollars" as a lot of money. But a billion is one hundred million so you can see there is a big difference between being a millionaire and a billionaire. Although, tonight's Powerball winner won't likely be a billionaire for long. After Uncle Sam gets through grabbing his cut, the total will be a lot less than a billion dollars.

5 Million Dollars In Cash Displayed At Seminole Hard Rock Casino
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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So what could buy with a one billion dollar financial windfall?

NHL via YouTube
NHL via YouTube
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If you like hockey you could afford to buy the Detroit Red Wings, the New York Islanders, or the Pittsburgh Penguins. Those are just some of the teams you could afford.

Superdome
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
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With your Billion Dollar Bonanza, you could afford to rename Caesar's Superdome anything you wanted. The naming rights were only $138 million, so you could probably put your name on a couple of other big-time stadiums too.

Viktor Ritsvall via Unsplash.com
Viktor Ritsvall via Unsplash.com
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If you're into boating you could buy a fleet of yachts. The Boats Group market index suggests that the average 56' to 79' yacht would cost you about $1.1 million dollars to buy. Granted you'd have to pay for people to work on it and drive it for you but you'd have more than enough left over to pay for all that and more.

Facebook, Cicis Pizza
Facebook, Cicis Pizza
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If you like personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut you could afford to buy every citizen of Italy one of those, no wait you could afford to buy every citizen 16 of those. We're not saying they would eat them, but you could afford to pay for them.

Rdtvpc Exwwyu via YouTube
Rdtvpc Exwwyu via YouTube
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If you win tonight's Powerball you won't be short on shorts. By our estimation, you could afford to purchase 4.6 million six-packs of men's Fruit of the Loom boxers. You could also purchase just as many women's briefs and still have a lot of money left over to rent a storage unit to put them all.

GERMANY-SPLASHDIVING-WORLD-OFFBEAT
AFP/Getty Images
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And if you wanted to finally get that swimming pool for your home. You know the in-ground pool with the pump and the filter and the deck and all that. You'll need more than a few pool noodles because you could afford more than 1800 very nice in-ground swimming pools with your newly found lottery gains.

For most of us, the concept of spending one billion dollars is hard to imagine. I can see why people who win big lottery prizes sometimes go off the deep end and wind up getting themselves into financial hardship. So, don't let that be you.

And if you do choose to play Powerball tonight, or any night, do so responsibly.

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