Stores across the country sold more tickets and were seeing much longer lines than usual before Saturday’s drawing, which did not produce a single ticket matching all six Powerball numbers.
Advertisement
Last summer, Powerball officials were concerned about the fact that sales declined sharply, caused mostly by competition from instant scratch of games and casinos.
Despite the fixing scandal, the highly regulated games are on the level, lottery officials insist.
A Boiling Springs husband couldn’t sleep after Saturday’s Powerball drawing.
Some electronic billboards and signs at convenience stores are having trouble touting this jackpot because it is so big.
“Sales”, a California State Lottery spokesman said, “are going insane right now”.
Kelly Cripe with the Texas Lottery, which is part of the Multi-State Lottery Association, says the $1.4 billion figure is the world’s largest – and was likely to get bigger. Those are pipe dreams for most, since the odds of winning are one-in-292 million.
The HOPE scholarships alone may end up with about two-thirds of that $27 million, about $18 million.
Roughly 95 percent of Powerball tickets are computer-generated quick picks, so people’s favorite numbers aren’t really a factor.
A victor would have the option of being paid through annual payments over 29 years or opting for one smaller cash payment (about $1.24 billion Canadian).
Matthew Brewer of Suffolk claimed his $1 million prize on Monday after his ticket matched five numbers in Saturday’s Powerball drawing.
The drawing isn’t until Wednesday, but people are already lining up to win at least $1.4 billion. Today he’s almost 70 years old and still has to work, and says he wishes he had taken the annuity payments.
Advertisement
One of them was Andrew “Jack” Whittaker of West Virginia, who took a $170 million lump sum in 2002. “Who needs that much money?”
