The ginormous Powerball grand prize is still up for grabs and has climbed to a cool $450 million after no one won Saturday night’s drawing, prompting some Valley residents to flock to neighborhood convenience stores Tuesday itching to pocket the coveted cash.
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Forty-four states participate in the Powerball as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Players are advised to plan ahead as there may be lines to purchase tickets.
In addition to the large Powerball jackpot prize, players have the opportunity to win lower-tier prizes from $4 up to $2 million by matching any of the non-jackpot-winning combinations. Players may select their own numbers using a Powerball playslip, or they may opt for computer-selected quick picks. This is the sixth largest jackpot of any US lottery game on record and the fourth largest Powerball jackpot.
Sally Lunsford, director of public affairs for the Kansas Lottery, said the increase in the jackpot, which directly correlates to ticket sales, might be due to the fact that more people are playing in pools.
Winning the lottery is a simple process – pay a minimum of $2, and you will receive a ticket with five sets of randomly chosen numbers from one through 69.
The biggest Powerball jackpot in history was $590.5 million, won on May 18, 2013, in Florida. And players say they wish they had the numbers that would help them win big.
“I’d retire and travel.” said Debbie Acker, “and buy my brother a house”. In 2013, Paul McDowell of Ravenna claimed the $29,906,600.00 cash value prize from the $40 million jackpot from the May 29, 2013 drawing. “Just consider that gone and you can afford to do it”, Rush said. Twice they have hit it big; once with a $10,000 victor, and last summer the pool cashed a cool million-dollar check. “There’s a billboard right off the Interstate and a lot of people see that right before they come in”.
Another victor was a project engineer in Minnesota who said he had dreamed of taking home the prize “so many times in my head”.
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It’s a sure thing that thousands of viwers will tune in at 11 p.m. Wednesday evening when the Powerball jackpot numbers are revealed by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission.
