One day after the Powerball jackpot reached $450 million, the prize is now up to $500 million after a large increase in the amount of tickets sold. Since the lottery is not allowed in Nevada, many crossed the state line to get their $2 tickets. Gold Ranch had a line of about 50 people, early in the day. That grew in the afternoon, with the line stretching outside. The winner can claim the prize over 30 years, through an annuity, or take a pretax lump sum of $306 million.
"I don't usually buy tickets but it is such a large one that somebody's got to buy it," Steve Ceresola, Fernley resident said. "You can't win it unless you've got one."
"I'm retired. So, I thought I'd come out," John Tasker, Reno resident said. "I come and have breakfast here. So, I thought I'd come out and get some tickets."
The jackpot is the sixth largest offered in North America. The largest Powerball prize was $590.5 million in 2013. Tasker says he hasn't really thought about how he would spend a half-billion dollars, but says it all starts with helping others.
"Probably give a lot to the wounded vets," Tasker said.
Giving was the them for most of the people, waiting in line, including Reno residents Dave and Nancy Thomsen.
"It's always about taking care of your friends that are working too hard and need to retire," Nancy Thomsen said. "That's our thing and then second thing is we've got the kitchen. We've got to do that. We've been watching 'Property Brothers'. We can tear that down, but take care of friends and family, first."
"Oh, I've got enough family. We'd spend it," Ceresola said.
The odds of winning the prize is one in 292 million. The chances of getting killed by an asteroid are one in 700,000.
"It's a chance," Mike Deal, Carson City resident said. "I'm just going to spend a few bucks, not get carried away with it, but you never know."
Gold Ranch is a popular destination for Nevadans, looking to cash in on big jackpots. Tom MacIntosh is the general manager of the property, and says it is always fun to see the amount of people that come out to try their luck.
"We love it," MacIntosh said. "We have regular guests that come every week to get their lottery tickets, but on these events whenever the jackpots grow, we get a lot of new guests coming out."
When the jackpots get to where Powerball is, there is normally a line of hundreds of people wrapped around the parking lot. MacIntosh says Mother Nature may have kept some people away, Wednesday.
"I think the weather has kept the crowd in check a little bit, but I know, tomorrow, if it doesn't hit that, it won't matter what the weather is. We'll have a great time out here," MacIntosh said.
The next drawing is Wednesday night at 7:59. The deadline to purchase a ticket is 6:45. If nobody claims the prize, the jackpot will rollover and continue to grow.
