$1.9B Powerball prize draws lines of ticket buyers

Hopeful ticket buyers waited in line Monday at the Lucky Mart on Chicago's South Side. The store is known as a 'lucky' store thanks to being recognized by Illinois Lottery officials as a place that's sold the most winning Powerball tickets in Illinois this year. The estimated $1.9 billion Powerball jackpot is nearly $400 million larger than the previous record jackpot and will keep growing until someone finally wins the prize. The jackpot started at $20 million back on Aug. 6 and over three winless months has grown to be 95 times as large ahead of Monday night's drawing. That's a long time without a winner but this is how the game is designed. With odds of 1 in 292 million, it's unlikely anyone will win the prize until a growing jackpot attracts more players. Those who spend $2 on a Powerball ticket might wonder if something is wrong when 40 drawings pass without a jackpot winner, but this is how the game is designed. Despite the fact that many more people are buying tickets now that the jackpot has reached nearly $2 billion, players on Saturday bought only enough tickets to cover 62% of the 292.2 million possible number combinations, leaving 38% of the possible number combinations still not covered. Players can choose numbers themselves but the overwhelming majority let a machine randomly pick the numbers. Alfornit Beard of Chicago waited in line at Lucky Mart to buy his Powerball tickets Monday morning. He said any winnings over $500 would make him happy, but if he wins the jackpot, he'll "Take care of my family, charity, and disappear," he said, laughing as he spoke.