Historic Powerball Jackpot Increases To $1.5 Billion
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Powerball jackpot keeps getting bigger and bigger.
The prize for Wednesday's drawing has jumped to an estimated $1.5 billion.
It is the largest jackpot in world history and with the long odds people are trying to increase their chances.
A New York University statistics professor says there's only a 1 in 300-million chance of winning it all. The chances are about the same as an average golfer scoring two holes-in-one in a row.
Some players consider certain stores lucky.
Many people have been flocking to a store on Fordham Road in the Bronx that has sold countless winning lottery tickets, including one worth $169 million.
1010 WINS' John Montone thinks he's cracked the code to winning. He visited the King Fung Chinese Market in River Edge, New Jersey where he bought a half-dozen fortune cookies for 35 cents, looking for his lucky numbers.
He's not alone.
"If you believe in fortune you can try it," customer Steven said. "If I want to gamble that day, I'll use the number."
The buzz surrounding Powerball has gotten so loud that the game has taken an international turn.
As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, Canadians are trying their luck with the jackpot.
"I'm gonna take my chances just like everyone else," Shari Ann said.
Shari Ann drove nearly two hours from her Ontario home for a chance to become the world's next billionaire.
"We come here and drop a lot of money on a regular basis. We shop in the U.S. a lot, so we give to you, it's time you give back," she said.
Our neighbors to the north have been traveling across the border from cities like Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal.
"You don't have to be a U.S. citizen to buy a Powerball ticket. As long as you're buying your tickets at an authorized retail location then that's fine with us," Alex Traverso, California State Lottery said.
Winners outside the U.S. can expect more taxes.
The federal government can withhold 30 percent of gambling winnings paid to a foreigner.That's 5 percent more than for a U.S. resident.
No matter what side of the border you're on, there's no escaping the one in nearly 300-million chance of winning.
"Even though the odds are totally against winning, somebody has to win. So you can dream," one Niagra Falls resident said.
It makes sense that Canadians want a piece of the American Pie, Canada's comparable lotto jackpot is just $50-million.
There could also be state taxes for an international winner, and New York has some of the highest taxes at more than 8.8 percent.
If you're one of the many in an office pool, New York Lottery officials suggest choosing a leader who will keep track of the group's money, make and distribute a list of participants, consider limiting the pool to 10 people because that's the maximum amount of individual checks that can be handed out.
"Make copies ahead of time, make sure everybody knows what the numbers are so that later, there's never any misunderstanding about, 'well that ticket was mine, I didn't buy it for everybody,'" New York Lottery director Gardner Gurney told WCBS 880's Alex Silverman. "The best thing to do is to try to do everything on the front end so you don't have any misunderstanding afterwards."
If you have more than 10 people, consider forming a trust or limited liability corporation.
