PHOENIX — The Powerball has reached a new world record, with $1.6B dollars up for grabs.
Hopefuls are now trying to get their hands on a ticket as the Powerball fever continues to grip the Valley.
“Hello, welcome in. You want a Powerball?” said Angela Stephenson.
Stephenson, a cashier at Mesa Star Food Mart, says they have been slammed the last couple of weeks.
“Oh it gets insane. The insanity is crazy,” she told ABC15.
She says usually she goes through one big (receipt) paper roll in a month.
“I just changed it out this morning,” said Stephenson.
“That’s a big roll,” we asked.
“And having to go through a couple of these in a couple of weeks is crazy,” she responded.
Her hands are also feeling the impact.
“They get a little sore. I mean they’ve been getting dry from dealing with a lot of paper,” said Stephenson.
“What would you do with all that money if you won?” we asked Antonio Sesmas after he bought his Powerball tickets.
“Buy me the dream house and help all my kids,” he answered.
Antonio Sesmas bought four tickets and says he still has more to grab.
“I buy them in different stores, so I’m going to buy eight more,” he added.
ABC15’s Data Analyst Garrett Archer says the odds of winning the Powerball are one in 292,000,000.
“Just to put that into perspective, the odds of being crushed by a vending machine are one in 114,000,000. So, technically you have twice the chance of being crushed to death by a vending machine than winning the Powerball,” Archer said.
Diane Biddinger says she wants to win to help others.
“What would you do with all that money?” we asked.
“Help a lot of people. It’s tough for a lot of people,” she said in tears.
Some like Robert Kurtz would buy a house if they won.
“I rent right now, so having a house would be nice,” he said.
Others would travel with that money.
“Well, I got ancestors from France and Germany, so that would probably be my first two stops,” said Nancy Whitlcok.
ABC15’s Data Analyst says the reason the jackpot has grown to a whopping $1.6B is that fewer people are buying tickets, though odds are still the same.
“The odds of winning are in the millions, but do you think you have a shot?” we asked Antonio Sesmas.
“We always can dream,” he answered.
The next drawing is Saturday night (October 5th), marking the 40th Powerball drawing since the jackpot was last won in Pennsylvania on Aug. 3. The cash value of Saturday's jackpot is $782.4 million, according to the latest figures.
