With the jackpot rising to $550 million, the largest in the history of the game, which dates back to 1988, business owners said there wasn't a major rush to buy tickets but customer traffic remained constant throughout the day. The jackpot was up $50 million from Tuesday as more players entered the multistate lottery.
One business owner, who asked not to be identified, said that some people have bought tickets every day since the last drawing on Saturday, hoping to hit the jackpot.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 175,223,510, according to the Powerball website. By comparison, the odds of being struck by lightning in any given year are estimated at 1 in 775,000, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Powerball drawing takes place at 10:59 p.m. Wednesday.
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