Powerball: Big Dreams, Long Lines
What would you do with $250 million? Correspondent Lauren Cohn of CBS station WBBM-TV in Chicago spoke to Powerball ticket buyers, waiting in line in Hammond, Ind.
"A trip to Vegas," said one.
"I've got a big family and relatives, all waiting to get their share," said another.
But at least one woman isn't buying at all. "I looked at the line, and I said, 'No way'," she told Cohn.
 Selling Powerball tickets(CBS) |
In Scottsbluff, Neb., the Express Mart sold hundreds of tickets Sunday to the surprise of Georgia Trump, who works at the convenience store.
"I usually don't hardly sell any on Sundays," she said.
In Greenwich, Conn., a suburb of New York City, residents did not welcome the news that nobody had won Saturday's $183 million Powerball jackpot.
Thousands of New Yorkers have crowded into the town in recent days hoping for a chance at beating the 80-million-to-1 odds and winning the jackpot. The game is not offered in New York state.
Ashok Sheth, owner of the Greenwich Cigar Store, said people have waited up to eight hours in line to buy tickets there.
"This has created a lot of chaos and a lot of aggression towards us," he said. "It is growing absolutely out of control. This is not our primary business, and people are afraid and scared to come into the store to buy other things."
Wednesday's estimated jackpot is the largest ever available to one player, breaking the record set in May a $195 million Powerball jackpot.
Only one lottery game has given away more money. Last year's Christmas lottery drawing in Spain named "El Gordo," or "the Fat One" had a $270 million purse, but the grand prize was only $2 million.
In Powerball, players choose five white numbered balls from a pool of 49 and a red Powerball from a pool of 42 numbers. A ticket costs $1. The game is overseen by the Multi-State Lottery Association, based in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Powerball tickets are sold in Washington, D.C., Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.