Powerball jackpot climbs to $485 million, draws first-timers
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Sent!Posted!The Powerball jackpot is now estimated at $485 million and will likely rise until Wednesday's drawing.
A lottery player fills out a Powerball ticket.(Photo: Nick Oza/ The Republic)
With no winner from Saturday's Powerball, the jackpot is now the third-highest in lottery game's history at $485 million, bringing many new players to convenience stores wanting to try their luck. But a person's odds of hitting the Powerball in Wednesday night's drawing are slightly less than the chances of an asteroid causing global catastrophe this year.
Mike Hicks, an employee at 4 Sons Chevron on 44th Street and Indian School Road, said the influx of customers buying Powerball tickets has been noticeably higher, especially among newer players.
"It's been fun, we see a lot of newbies who come in here and don't know the games, but they have this gleam in their eyes, this hope," Hicks said.
The Powerball allows players to choose five numbers plus a "Powerball" number on each ticket and offers a minimum jackpot of $40 million for the price of a $2 per ticket. The jackpot is awarded only when someone in one of the 44 participating states has a lucky ticket with all six numbers matching. If there is no winner, the jackpot rolls over to the next drawing.
No one has won the jackpot since Nov. 29, allowing the grand total to rise to a projected $485 million. Considering the odds of winning the jackpot with all six matching numbers are 1 in 175,223,510, it's common for jackpots to compound.
Phoenix residents such as Mary Ann Bautista were flocking to buy tickets on Tuesday in hopes of cashing in on the record jackpot despite no regular interest in the lottery.
"I don't normally, but 450 are you kidding me?" Bautista said at the QuikTrip on Seventh Street and Butler Drive.
Nicholas Hanna, owner of Maryland Deli & Liquor near Seventh Street and Maryland Avenue, said his store's weekly sales of Powerball tickets have already drastically increased by just Tuesday, up almost 40 percent from an average week.
Hanna estimated that total weekly sales will be about four or five times their normal level, and will go even higher if there is no winner in tonight's drawing. Hanna then stopped mid-sentence to recommend a Phoenix resident use the "quick pick" option when selecting the numbers on her tickets.
"You don't want to pick your own (numbers), 99.9 percent of winners used the machine," Hanna told Kelsey Wilson.
Wilson said she rarely plays the Powerball, but added, "I do play when it's really big."
Hanna said that while there has been a drastic increase in customers purchasing Powerball tickets at his store, there have not been any long lines.
Andi Fair, a QuikTrip cashier in Phoenix, said her store is expecting today to be its biggest sales day, especially once people get off work and head in to buy last-minute tickets before the 8:59 p.m. drawing.
"We sell a lot of Powerball," Fair said. "When the jackpot's not as high, people still buy them. There's people that come in regularly here."
Dorothy Harper, of Phoenix, said she buys Powerball tickets two or three times a month, but mostly with an interest of getting something extra to pay her bills.
"I'm not trying to get rich," Harper said. "I just want to be comfortable and pay my bills. Set up trust funds for my grandkids."
That type of altruism was common among Powerball players who waited to buy tickets Tuesday, including Jim Kochan, who ran through a list of things he would do for his family and his place in Flagstaff before settling on the familiar theme.
"And do some charitable things," he said.
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0) { %>Source: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2015/02/11/powerball-jackpot-climbs/23214821/
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