Thousands flock to small Arizona town ahead of record Powerball
Jan 13, 2016, 4:15 PM
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
PHOENIX — Lines stretched out of the building Wednesday at a small convenience store in a tiny Arizona town ahead of the record Powerball drawing.
“I think the maximum wait time for lottery tickets was an hour and 15 minutes,” Rosie’s Den owner Brad Larsen said.
Rosie’s Den is located just this side of the Arizona-Nevada border, about 25 miles south of the Hoover Dam on US 93. The long lines were made up of eager Nevadans looking for their chance at the record $1.5 billion prize.
Powerball tickets cannot be purchased in Nevada.
Larsen said he planned to keep a full staff all day to deal with the crowds.
“They’re the best in the business, the girls here,” he said. “I’ve had people in here since 5 [a.m.]”
Larsen said he has been selling about 100,000 Powerball tickets per day.
Sale like that are not unusual, as people have been going Powerball crazy as the jackpot rose to higher and higher numbers.
“This past Saturday was our single-largest day of Powerball sales ever — $12.3 million just in Powerball tickets,” Tony Bouie with the Arizona Lottery said.
Tickets for Wednesday’s drawing will not be sold after 7:59 p.m. Arizona time. If no one hits this jackpot, some estimates said the pot could be as high as $2 billion for Saturday’s pick.
KTAR’s Jim Cross and Lauren Grifo contributed to this report.
