Record Powerball pot hikes ranks of players

All across the United States last week, people were swarming to gas stations and supermarkets to purchase Powerball tickets for the largest Powerball prize in history. More than 635 million tickets were sold in 46 states prior to the Jan. 13 draw, according to lottoreport.com.

Powerball fever also hit Whitman County last week as the largest Powerball prize in history drew near.

The record Powerball grew to nearly $1.6 billion prior to the draw, because no tickets had been able to match all five numbers plus the Powerball number since Nov. 7, 2015. The record surge also followed a format change in the game, increasing the number of white balls from 59 to 69 and decreasing the amount of red balls – the Powerball – from 35 to 26. This format change reduced the odds of landing the jackpot to approximately one in 292 million compared to the previous one in 175 million.

Shawn McAdams, Colfax Rosauers manager, told the Gazette that “a whole bunch” of tickets were sold prior to the draw Jan. 13.

“Number-wise, we probably sold 10 to 15 percent more than we normally would,” he said.

McAdams said that he is not sure of the exact numbers sold between the Powerball draw Jan. 9 and the draw on Jan. 13, but he knows that about 2,000 tickets – $4,000 worth – were sold on Wednesday alone.

“They were excited, and they were dreaming about what they would do with the money,” McAdams said of the customers who bought tickets.

McAdams said that the highest amount he saw one person spend on tickets at the store was $12.

At the Rosalia Market, manager Garth Hill said the sales between Jan. 10-13 netted a little more than $1,800, meaning more than 900 tickets were sold.

“That is a lot higher than normal,” he said. “They were excited about buying the tickets, and there were a lot of new people who don't normally buy tickets coming in.”

The Chevron Sunset Mart in Colfax sold an estimated 528 tickets between Sunday and Wednesday last week, according to the manager.

Richard Kelly, manager at the Tekoa Market, said there were lines at his store for people to buy Powerball tickets. From Jan. 10-13 last week, the Tekoa Market took in $2,451 in Powerball ticket sales, with some customers also choosing the PowerPlay option for an additional dollar which would double their winnings. That figure represents approximately 1,225 tickets when excluding the PowerPlay option.

“That's more than the population of Tekoa,” Kelly said, noting the population is about 800. Some people bought multiple tickets.

Kelly also added that despite the $1.6 billion Powerball garnering three winners after the draw on Jan. 13 and returning to the minimum $40 million amount for the Jan. 16 draw, sales for tickets still remained high.

“I think we were just as busy for Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the (following) Saturday draw,” he said.

Brian Jacobs, manager at the Cougar Food Mart in Colfax, did not share the total number of tickets sold, but did say that the number was a record amount for his store.

“We did have a record day on that last day,” he said. “We have never sold more than that.”

Five Pullman stores also sell Powerball tickets, but those numbers are not included here. The Dusty Country Store is also not included as the store was closed in the Jan. 10-13 period.