LAWTON, Okla_If you didn't buy your Powerball ticket by 9 PM Wednesday night, you were too late.
Sales for the record breaking $550 million jackpot cut off at 9 PM, and the drawing happened an hour later. Local gas stations and convenience stores were the busiest places in town due to anxious lotto players eager to get their hands on the millions.
It seems $550 million is enough to get almost anyone out of the house.
One customer at the Phillips 66 on East Lee Boulevard said, "I don't play very often anymore, but when it gets over a couple hundred million you gotta play for at least a couple of three dollars."
Another customer chimed in, "We have lots of people we can help. Maybe quit the job too!"
At the Phillips 66 on East Lee Boulevard Powerball tickets were a hot commodity, and by 3 PM they had already sold...
"501. Just today. Last night, I sold over 300, " said Kristi Wood, assistant store manager.
Wednesday night's Powerball was the richest pot in Powerball history, and the second biggest lottery of all time, so you can bet across town at the Fluffy's on Cache Road, they were just as busy.
Store Clerk Johnny Big Rivers said, "We've been really busy because tonight's the drawing. Every time a lottery jackpot gets big we're busy."
The chances of winning are one in 175 million, meaning you are 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award, but those chances were still enough for one first time player.
"It's still worth the try. You know, you never know! That's half a billion dollars! Your kids would never have to work again!"
Experts say about 80 percent of players don't pick their own numbers, but it does seem that 100% have a plan for the money their numbers could bring.
One customer said, "I'm going on vacation!"
While another said, "I'd disappear. Then I'd figure out what I was gonna do."
The jackpot has only been growing because there have been sixteen consecutive drawings without a winner. No news has come forward yet, but if no one wins the most recent drawing, we will see another record breaking jackpot.
And again, the winning numbers for Wednesday's Powerball lottery are: 05,16, 22, 23, 29, 06.
