Illinois Lottery hosts Powerball ticket giveaway ahead of $1 billion drawing
SKOKIE, Ill. - Powerball fever is back in Illinois as the jackpot for Wednesday night's drawing has reached a staggering $1 billion.
If someone wins the jackpot, it would be the seventh-largest jackpot won in U.S. history, according to Illinois Lottery officials.
To celebrate the massive jackpot, the Illinois Lottery hosted a ‘Powerball Ticket Grab Challenge’ at five of the "winningest" Powerball stores in Illinois, giving players a chance to win free tickets ahead of the 10 p.m. drawing.
Players got in on the action at Kostner Korner in Skokie Wednesday, trying their luck inside a money machine for five seconds to grab as many Powerball tickets as they can.
Powerball jackpot soars to $1 billion for Wednesday's drawing
The new jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing would be the seventh highest in U.S. history and the third largest for Powerball. The last time someone won the Powerball jackpot was in April.
The location is one of Illinois Lottery’s top five ‘winningest’ Powerball stores in Illinois - selling the most winning Powerball tickets in 2023, and customers are banking on Kostner Korner to bring them luck.
"I feel lucky. [I'll] invest it. I'll maybe go on vacation too," one customer said.
"We were having lunch. I told her, I said 'oh the Powerball, it's a billion dollars.' And she's never bought and I said, 'well we're going'."
The $1 billion Powerball top prize is drawing the lion's share of attention, but the competing Mega Millions lottery jackpot is also reaching massive heights.
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Ahead of Friday night's drawing, that jackpot stands at $720 million, the seventh-largest in the game’s history.