People lining up to get Powerball tickets with jackpot worth $1.6 billion
There is no shortage of tickets being sold for tonight's Powerball drawing.
The jackpot is worth an estimated $1.6 billion, the highest the Powerball jackpot has ever been.
CBSLA Reporter Tena Ezzeddine spoke to folks at a 7-11 store in Monrovia on Saturday morning who were there to buy some tickets.
"I need to make four or five stops. I'll go to a donut shop, liquor store and gas station just to spread it out and see where the numbers come up," one man told Ezzeddine.
The odds of actually hitting all five numbers, plus the Powerball number, are not very good. It's an almost 300 million to one shot of winning the Powerball jackpot, according to the multi-state lottery system.
Nevertheless, those odds aren't discouraging folks from buying a ticket and wondering what if they actually win.
"I'd just like to reach out out to the homeless and I'm a big animal lover so I of course would like to reach out to help the shelters. And then help my family and everyone in need," one woman told Ezzeddine.
Even folks who have never played the lottery before decided to buy a Powerball ticket on Saturday.
"This is my first time buying a lottery ticket. Not a scratcher, not a ever ever," Roxanne Brooks told Ezzeddine. "I just turned on the news this morning. Hopefully this lucky pick works out."
The Powerball drawings are every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 7:59 p.m. PT.
There has not been a winning ticket with all six numbers correct since August.
If you win and opt to get the jackpot in one full payment, the cash value is worth $782.4 million before taxes. The other option is to receive monthly payments over three decades.
