The Powerball jackpot keeps rising and so does the interest in the popular lottery game.
Thousands of Arizonans have been picked for smaller prizes ahead of the historic $1.4 billion jackpot, but did you know winning isn't something new for locals?
Since Arizona began selling Powerball tickets in 1994, there have been 12 jackpot winners, totaling more than $702 million.
Here are some more interesting facts about Arizona Powerball and Lottery:
- Arizona Lottery sold more than 948,000 Powerball tickets (or $6.1 million worth) on Wednesday, Jan. 6, ahead of the $950 million jackpot. No winner was chosen, prompting a $1.4 billion jackpot to be chosen on Wednesday, Jan 13.
- The three locations that sell the most Arizona Lottery tickets are Beaver Dam Station in Littlefield, Ariz., Fry's Food and Drug at 10660 Grand Ave. in Sun City and Safeway at 10926 W. Bell Rd. in Sun City.
- More than 550,000 cash prizes have been picked in Arizona since Nov. 7 when the jackpot started to rise to the highest level in U.S. history. Those prizes are between $4 and $50,000.
- In December, more than 3.5 million winning tickets were cashed in Arizona, totaling more than $43 million in winnings.
- In 2015, one Arizona player won a $188.9 million Powerball jackpot after buying a ticket in Glendale.
- Five tickets bought in Tucson, Mesa, Pearce and Scottsdale won $1 million jackpots.
- Seven Arizona players won $50,000 Powerball prizes with tickets from Gilbert, Maricopa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sun City West, Tombstone and Tucson.
- Arizona Lottery contributes about $3.4 million per week to state programs including arts, education, community enrichment, environmental conservation, health and human services and public safety.
- The Arizona Lottery gives 25 percent of its revenue back to the community.
