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Subscribe to RSSAlthough the odds are merely one in 175 million, it hasn't stopped people from spending $2 a ticket to take their chances on what has become the largest jackpot in Powerball history. NBC's John Yang reports.
NEW YORK -- The steady stream of commuters, transit workers, and veteran gamblers who stopped by a Grand Central Terminal kiosk Tuesday had one thought in common: To win the estimated $500 million Powerball jackpot, the largest in the game's history.
It's a scene being repeated across the 42 states, plus Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands, where Powerball is played.
For Keith "Stix" Lexa, the dream is buying a farm. Lexa, who lives in Queens, N.Y., and works at Grand Central as a Metro-North Railroad mechanic, is a self-proclaimed "big gambler" who plays the lottery regularly.
"I would buy a farm, a bunch of horses," Lexa said. "I've always loved animals." For good measure, he said, he'd also invest in Budweiser.
Overhearing him, Tony, Lexa's friend and co-worker, said he'd buy the farm next door so he could drop by and bug him.
At the Hudson News kiosk where Lexa bought his tickets, more than $1,600 had been spent on Powerball tickets between 7 and 9 a.m. That kind of activity, repeated at store after store across the country, helped drive the estimated jackpot from $425 million to $500 million for Wednesday night's drawing.
As big as this week's Powerball jackpot is, it's not the largest lottery prize ever. That mark is held by the $656 million Mega Millions jackpot that was split by three ticket buyers earlier this year. The biggest Powerball prize was $365 million in 2006, shared by several ConAgra Foods Workers in Lincoln, Neb.
Jonathan Sanger / NBC News
Keith "Stix" Lexa and Tony joke about what they would buy if they won the $425 million Powerball jackpot at a Hudson News store in Grand Central Station in New York City on Nov. 27.
Chuck Strutt, executive director of Multi-State Lottery Association, the group that runs Powerball, told The Associated Press there's a 60 percent chance the prize will be won Wednesday. Strutt added the odds of someone taking home the prize can improve if there's a large number of last-minute ticket purchasers picking unique numbers.
Jonathan Sanger / NBC News
Eusebio Wilson-Pinto writes numbers on his Powerball ticket at a Hudson News store in Grand Central Station in New York City on Nov. 27.
One reason for the big pot is because Powerball tickets doubled in price to reach $2 in January, which led to an increase in revenue of about 35 percent over 2011. Strutt told The AP that sales for Powerball reached a record $3.96 billion in fiscal 2012, which ended in September, and are expected to reach $5 billion this fiscal year.
In interviews Tuesday, the consensus among both amateur and experienced players at Grand Central was that quitting their job was the first thing they'd do if they won.
Dominic DeCarlo, who was commuting through the station to his job in finance in Manhattan, said he doesn't think about winning too much because he gets discouraged.
"Playing this is against all laws of finance," he said, adding: "I'd probably quit my job, buy a nice house, maybe leave the country."
Eusebio Wilson-Pinto, a tennis instructor who lives in the Bronx and plays every day, said he'd use some of the money to buy the business that employs him and become his boss's boss.
"You got to bribe your boss sometimes," he said.
Teresa White, a mother and a grandmother who lives in Brooklyn and works for MTA Metro-North Railroad, said she'd give half of her prize to a charity that supports education.
Father of four Antonio Macias, 69, who used to work in a Midtown Manhattan jewelry store and said he's been playing the lottery since the late 1970s, would split it among his four sons.
"Happiness is with them," he said.
Jonathan Sanger / NBC News
Jennifer, who did not give her last name, poses for a portrait after purchasing a Powerball ticket at a Hudson News store in Grand Central Station in New York City on Nov. 27.
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Leave a Comment:
anybody that is on welfare an wins should not get any money at all....!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's right! Lets keep em on welfare.
Pay off my mortgage, my kids mortgages, sent up college funds for my grandkids, buy a new normal car, REALLY give to my ususal charities, give a whole lot away, to folks that I know who can use it. This time WISELY invest, so it won't all get washed away, like in 2008
Jeanmarie;
I'm usually all sarcasm but your comment about 2008 caught me. Did you sell? Did you sell on advice from someone else?
Sorry for being nosy, but finance and economy is my passion.
I don't really know anything about these things. I did not sell, but all of my money was in an annuity, and apparently they sold, or something. I just had money one month and the next month over half of it was gone. My advisior had just quit and I was put into a house account.
Sorry to hear that, you were a victim. If you are savvy enough pick your own stocks and leave them alone. Never ever sell at a loss EVER. The only possible exception to that rule would be if you were certain your companies were going to go bankrupt.
If you really are uncomfortable in choosing your own long term investments then you are forced to use a broker (you know the risks) but by all means put half of it in a plain old savings account. Someday you just might be comfortable enough to put it in yourself.
Save your money you ain't gonna WIN and that is the only thing you can take to the bank !
aaron it is just human nature to dream. People somehow get their moneys worth just getting a few days to dream about it. Let em be.
I've already bought a ticket, but the tricky thing is this. I've already had a heart attack, and last summer had cardiac arrest, so do I really want to win 500 million and risk dyin' before I get to spend a single dime of it? What a dilemma lol
Oh, would that not be a nice inheritance for your loved ones!!!
Yeah, but maybe he doesn't want them to be GLAD he's dead.
fun to imagine... my grandchildren would not have to worry about college! Whenever I hear someone wins one of these big jackpots... I say out loud... "chance of a lifetime... do GOOD things with the money".
Here you are on Earth, this tiny rock, in a universe so vast, 14 billions years after it's creation. On a planet amongst billions of others, Where all the elements are in perfect balance, and life sprang up to evolve after billions of years, into the human race, who would conceive of a game called powerball, and here you are, debating if you should by a ticket. Are the odds too great? I don't think so. After all, stranger things have happened.
someone will win...
Me. :)
I am not buying a worthless lotto ticket. What a waste of money. I am going to be smart and invest my money in a quality dollar stock, sit in a dark room, and wait for my investment to grow.
My dollar doesn't seem to be growing much yet.
First Black Friday and the unstoppable craze to acquire possessions, now an obsession with money as everyone's personal savior, even better than Jesus -- all on the front-page, and just the latest in a string of similar reports. Yep, the US is not a materialistic nation. Congratulations to the terrorists: You are definitely winning.
sorry, big guy, but come Thursday, I will email you the picture of me swimming on the pool of money that you dreamt of winning.
So if a liberal wins this lottery. Does that mean they will have to hate themselves for being in the top 1%. Or will they become conservatives and feel they won this money fairly and should be able to keep it?
Lottery winnings are a government handout, so liberals will happily accept them. What will happen if a conservative wins? I have a feeling he'll change his position on government handouts.
Government handouts. NOT...
The money comes from everyone who buys a ticket, not the government. It's only a legal gambling system so they can get there greedy hands on MORE money for the government to have, even if only one dollar at a time from the consumer with wishful retirement plans...
Optimist. You probably shouldn't comment on issues you have no clue about. The government doesn't put one dollar into the lottery. They only take each time the little balls go round and round.
And for the record. I conservative would consider he earned it. The conservative realizes he paid to play with his own money, not the governments. Of course a liberal sees it as a handout.
If I won it there would be a lot of people that would be a lot richer cause I would give most of it away. That much money would scare the crap out of me. I wouldn't begin to know where to start shopping in the dollar store. :)
Powerball: the co-op for the lucky one: the government.
Yep. They win every week.
I know, it is a tax on mostly the lower classes, a voluntary tax at that. People should pool their monies and start businesses instead.
If I win, I'm gonna have the Mayan calender rewritten so I can enjoy the money longer. LOL
If I win I'm putting it all in the Cayman Islands Bank accounts just to piss of the liberals.
The government will take their 35% out before you get the money.
I think the rules of the Powerball lottery should change. When it reaches over 250 million it should be split between two winner. If only one winning ticket is drawn, then another should be drawn. It would spread the wealth and give twice the winners, twice the people a chance for a better life and make many, more people buy lottery tickets.
Some people will spend a couple of bucks on a bottle of water, but balk at buying a lottery ticket. I already pay for water at the house. I'll spend my two bucks for a chance. One never knows.
How would you split it if 7 people hit the second number?
doesn't anyone realize that this is so false advertising...it may be 500 mil..but by the time you really get any money---it will be maybe 150 mil...i know it is still ALOT of money,but,they should state outright that after taxes,& this & that you will only get ????
It is not false advertising, if you take it in the 30 year payment mode, you would get 500 million total, They take the ticket sales (lump sum payment) and put that in an annuity and pay you 1/30 of the 500 million adjusted for inflation. If you take the lump sum, (cash value) and put it in an annuity, it would also earn enough interest to be 500 million.
In Canada, we have no taxes on lottery winnings. Of course, our prizes never get this big, I think the biggest jackpot was somewhere between $50 - $60 million a few years ago.
Now that I'm divorced, "Show me the money"
You just know with this amount of money that there's going to be a contentious situation with the winner(s) that will require lawyers and courts.
Some people actually buy their own tickets.
But for this amount of money, maybe they'll sue themselves. ;-)
Mega Millions is only 41mil. Pssh, not worth the dollar to try.