BETHESDA, Md. – Lottery fever is once again sweeping the nation as the Powerball jackpot has ballooned into one of the largest totals ever, an estimated $360 million.
“We expect to do a lot of business today, especially last-minute business,” says Peter Frank, owner of Talbert’s Ice and Beverage Service in Bethesda.
The estimated $360 million prize for Wednesday night’s drawing is the third largest jackpot in Powerball’s history. It is the seventh largest jackpot overall.
Frank says he sees an influx of customers every time a jackpot climbs above $250 million, and it doesn’t make any sense in his eyes.
“That’s something that I can’t understand. People turn their noses up at $100 million today where in the old days for $15 million they lined up.
“It just defies any logic,” Frank says.
It’s not your imagination if you feel like larger jackpots have been arriving faster.
More than half of the all-time jackpot records have been reached in the last three years after lottery. Lottery officials credit a recent change to the structure of payouts along with cross-selling of Powerball and Mega Millions tickets.
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