It’s that time again. Another lottery jackpot has reached astronomical numbers, causing another lottery frenzy in the 43 states where Powerball is played. The jackpot has now reached $425 million ahead of tonight’s drawing.
New York state lottery spokesperson Carolyn Hapeman told the Chicago Tribune that the reason why Powerball jackpots have reached such high numbers is because of a recent overhaul of the game. Ticket prices jumped to $2 and the jackpots now start at $40 million. If a person wins tonight’s drawing, the winner would take a lump sum of $244.7 million. While that may pale in comparison to the $590.5 million won by a Florida woman in May, it’s still life changing for anyone who wins. The 84-year-old Florida woman took the lump sum of $371 million.
According to the Associated Press, the convenience stores that are definitely seeing a rise in traffic are ones that have had previous winners. Hopefuls are flocking to a Pennsylvania 7-Eleven where a $1 million Powerball ticket was sold Saturday.
“The manager said people were pouring into her store wanting to buy lottery tickets," 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said about the store. “They were of course really excited that one of their customers had won."
A Casey's General Store in Iowa sold a $202.1 million Powerball ticket last summer, so whenever the jackpot numbers get big, they see more people coming in for tickets.
You can check out the list of states playing Powerball at Powerball.com. The game is also played in Washington, DC and the US Virgin Islands. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 175 million.
image: Powerball.com