Powerball fever
It took a record $365 million Powerball lottery jackpot to lure Paul Prows over the Idaho border Friday morning.
Anything less would be pocket change, to hear the Spokane construction worker tell it.
“It had to be over $300 million,” explained Prows, 44, who bought a sheaf of tickets at the Seltice Stop-N-Go Market at Stateline. “That way I could share it. If I get $1 million, I have to keep it myself.”
Prows wasn’t the only wannabe winner drawn by the largest jackpot in North American lottery history. A steady parade of ticket buyers snaked past clerks Liz Thorne and Autumn Agree starting early Friday. Stacks of cash piled up in front of Thorne’s Powerball machine as a frigid wind whipped through glass entry doors that never quite had a chance to close.
“Once it gets to $300 million it gets crazy in here,” said Thorne, after validating Prows’ purchase. “It’s just ridiculous.”
The jackpot, which has been growing since Dec. 17, spiked when no winner was picked in Wednesday’s $308.8 million drawing. The next drawing, scheduled for 8 o’clock tonight, tops the previous lottery record of $363 million for the Big Game – the forerunner of Mega Millions.
And it far outstrips the previous Powerball record of $340 million, which was won by a Medford, Ore., family in October.
Across the country, players in 28 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands are lining up for the chance to match five correct numbers plus the power ball. Washington does not participate in Powerball drawings, but plenty of the state’s residents find ways to play.
In Idaho, the number of Powerball transactions has nearly doubled from a month ago, when they peaked at 261,000 for a jackpot of $87 million, lottery spokesman David Workman said.
This week, transactions at about 950 lottery retailers statewide have topped 450,000, Workman said.
“Sales really start to pick up when it crosses about $100 million,” he said. “Personally, I always wonder about the people who think they don’t need $15 million.”
Like steady church-goers amid Easter Sunday crowds, some lottery fans put their faith in regular contact.
“I buy all the time,” said Joyce Young, 66, of Spokane. She plunked down $5 for five tickets Friday
With a single ticket, the chances of winning the jackpot are 1 in 146 million. By comparison, players are 13 times more likely to die from contact with a venomous plant or animal. That didn’t deter lottery players like Glenn Purcell, 25, of Spokane. He’d like to get a new job, but on Friday he was hoping perhaps he wouldn’t have to. He wagered $5 on a new future.
“Just for the opportunity to retire, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
Reach JoNel Aleccia at (208) 765-7124 or by e-mail at jonela@spokesman.com