$475M Powerball jackpot
$475M Powerball jackpot, The Powerball jackpot rolled over after no winning numbers were selected Wednesday night. The prize is a staggering $475 million.One ticket sold in Indianapolis earned its owner $1 million when it matched five numbers. It was sold at the Speedway station at 936 West County Line Road on the Southside.
The numbers drawn were: 2-11-26-34-41 PB: 32.
The jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing was $360 million.
Ticket sales have surged this week because no one had numbers matching the Saturday drawing for a $222 million pot. With a $475 million prize, saless are really expected to heat up.
Sam Morcos, manager of the Silver Express convenience store in the 8000 block of West 10th Street, said lotto hopefuls were streaming into the store this week to buy tickets. Last month, the store sold the fourth-most lottery tickets in the state.
Morcos, who said he is prohibited from buying a Powerball ticket at his own store, said he would go somewhere else for the purchase. “Everyone has to have a chance,” he said.
Al Larsen, a Hoosier Lottery spokesman, said sales were up by 78 percent for Powerball from Sunday to Tuesday this week, compared with the same period last week.
About $1.2 million worth of the $2 tickets were sold.
Wednesday, between 5 and 8 p.m., lottery officials expected sales would top $4,000 a minute for Powerball statewide before the drawing. Ticket sales cut off at 9:58 p.m.; the drawing was held at 11 p.m.
The last major jackpot win came when a New Jersey man won a $338.3 million jackpot on March 23.
If the possibility of winning the jackpot wasn’t enough, Larsen said the $190 million Mega Millions drawing Friday is adding to the gaming drama this week.
“In terms of energy and excitement, people are looking to buy tickets for a few days,” he said. “There are a lot of people being driven to the store just for Powerball, but this Mega Millions has added some juice to it.”
The Hoosier Lottery estimates the chances of winning the Powerball at one in more than 175 million.
