Big jackpot pushes Powerball sales

Iowans are buying Powerball tickets at the rate of several hundred a minute after no one matched all six numbers in Wednesday night’s drawing. Iowa Lottery spokesman Joe Hrdlicka says the next jackpot will grow into near-record territory. Saturday’s drawing will be worth 290-million dollars, the fourth-largest jackpot in the game’s history. The cash option is worth 142-million dollars. Hrdlicka says Powerball ticket sales have been going through the roof for days and will rise even farther before Saturday. He says wagers were being made Wednesday statewide at the rate of 300 to 800 per minute. The jackpot has been growing since mid-August and has made it through 19 drawings so far without being won. Hrdlicka says the chances of winning the Powerball are remote, yet hundreds of thousands of people keep trying. The odds are 146-million-to-one, odds that were increased recently because Hrdlicka says people like to play for larger jackpots. He expects lines to be forming at some Powerball outlets. The record Powerball prize of 314-point-nine million dollars was won on December 25th or 2002 by a West Virginian.