The Powerball jackpot is $1 billion, with the next drawing on Saturday night.
The manager of a 7-Eleven on Lake Avenue in St. James told Newsday on Saturday morning “sales [have been] going up since the prize money went up.”
K.P. Singh said “roughly 30 customers had bought Powerball tickets between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.”
One ticket buyer, retired social worker Charles Gluck, said he’d gone to the 7-Eleven to get a newspaper but bought a Powerball ticket when he “found out how high the jackpot was.”
Gluck, 74, of St. James, said he “infrequently” played the lottery and would opt for the lump sum payout if he won.
Here’s what casual, occasional players of Powerball need to know:
Why is the jackpot so big?
No one picked the winning five numbers and the Powerball on Wednesday, when the jackpot was $861 million and the winning numbers were 9-12-22-41-61, with the Powerball: 25, according to Lottery officials. Saturday’s Powerball drawing will be the 39th drawing since the jackpot was won in California on May 31.
How do I play?
According to the state Lottery, choose five numbers from 1 to 69 and one number from 1 to 26 to be your Powerball. To win the Powerball jackpot, the six numbers you picked must match the drawn six-number combination (the five numbers on the white balls and the Powerball number on the red ball.) Tickets are $2 each.
How much is the Powerball jackpot worth now?
It is at an estimated $1 billion for the next drawing on Saturday night. The jackpot has a cash value of $453.1 million, according to the lottery.
When is the next Powerball drawing?
It will be Saturday, just before 11 p.m. (Eastern time). The deadline to buy tickets is 10 p.m. When the jackpots are this big, retail stores often see lines of people.
Where can I find a retailer who sells Powerball tickets?
They are literally everywhere across the state, at gas stations, grocery and convenience stores and smoke shops from Buffalo to Montauk. If you want to zero in on a location, click here.
How many Powerball jackpots have topped $1 billion?
According to the Powerball website, five Powerball tickets have been over $1 billion:
- $2.04 billion, Nov. 7, 2022, California
- $1.765 billion, Oct. 11, 2023. California
- $1.586 billion, Jan. 13, 2016, California, Florida, Tennessee
- $1.326 billion, April 6, 2024, Oregon
- $1.08 billion, July 19, 2023, California
What are the odds of winning the top prize?
The odds are calculated at 1 in 292,201,338 per play. The odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are less than one in a million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sam Kmack covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and previously worked as a city watchdog reporter in the Phoenix metro area, as well as an investigative journalist at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.
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