By Staci DaSilva
sdasilva@kcautv.com
One in 175 million: Those are the odds that a single Powerball ticket will win the half a billion dollar jackpot.
But at $2 a pop, folks are willing to take that bet.
What would you do with an extra half a billion dollars in your bank account?
"I would probably share it with my family and my church. And I would do something nice for myself," said Suzanne Tucker of Akron, IA.
"Go on a shopping spree! Buy a house. No actually, I'd pay off all my bills then I'd buy a house," said Michelle Graves of Sioux City.
"My wife buys the tickets. (Why don't you buy them?) because I don't believe in them. She does though. And anything she believes in, I'll go along with," admitted Robert W. Bray of Sioux City.
There's never been a Powerball jackpot as lucrative as this one.
The reason is lottery officials decided to increase the ticket price from $1 to $2 which allows for more million dollar prizes, bigger starting jackpots and better odds of winning.
The jackpot rose to $500 million Tuesday morning thanks to a jump in sales over the past few days.
And Siouxlanders seem to be taking notice.
Lori Wuebker, of the Bacon Creek Country Store said, "Lots of sales, last couple of days. And I just assume it's going to get worse by tomorrow night. We usually have a person around that can just stand by the machine and just do that for us while we wait on the customers."
Iowa Lottery officials told us that other states have been paying attention to the Hawkeye state.
Since Powerball began, there have been 8 jackpot winners in Iowa, 2 this year alone.
So Siouxland, may the odds be ever in your favor.
