As Powerball Jackpot Climbs, So Do Local Lottery Ticket Sales

SAN ANGELO, TX-- The Powerball jackpot rose to $700 million following the Saturday drawing, where nobody took home the massive purse.

The national lottery game, played in 44 states,  the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and The US Virgin Islands, has drawn more and more contestants as the record second largest jackpot continues to reach epic proportions ahead of tonight's drawing. While the odds are not in your favor at a 1 in 292 million, or .0000003%, chance of winning, many San Angelo area residents are rolling the dice and shelling out the dough for a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The only prize bigger than the $700 million jackpot for tonight's drawing was the $1.6 billion prize split by three winners in January of 2016.

Joe's Icehouse in San Angelo, which has sold several winning lottery tickets in the past, hopes to reap the reward from the record turnout. "We've sold more Powerball tickets than we have liquor here lately," said Kaleb Morris, a cashier at Joe's Icehouse. "We're selling $200-$300 worth of tickets at a time."

According to Morris, the business has sold over $5,000 worth of tickets in the last week alone. "Everyone wants to come in and buy powerball tickets," Morris said with a wide smile on his face.

Stores who sell winning tickets can also become eligible to win a million dollars through the lottery, to which Morris said would be "awesome" to see happen at his workplace along with the publicity from selling  a winning ticket.

Players of the Powerball have two options to choose from when it comes to claiming the prize money: they can either take the cash option, which would be $443 million before taxes or roughly $330 million after taxes, or the annuity option which would pay out the entire $700 million in payments of $24 million over the course of 29 years. However, only two winners in the past 10 years of the Powerball have taken the annuity option.

 The drawing for the $700 million jackpot will take place tonight at 9:59 p.m. Do you have your ticket ready?