http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57555976/powerball-jackpot-soars-to-record-$550-million/

CHICAGO As Americans went on a ticket-buying spree, the Powerball
jackpot rose to $550 million Wednesday, enticing many people who
rarely, if ever, play the lottery to purchase a shot at the
second-largest payout in U.S. history. 

Among them was Lamar Fallie, a jobless Chicago man who said his six
tickets conjured a pleasant daydream: If he wins, he plans to take
care of his church, make big donations to schools and then "retire
from being unemployed." 

Tickets were selling at a rate of 130,000 a minute nationwide -- about
six times the volume from a week ago. That meant the jackpot could
climb even higher before the Wednesday night drawing, said Chuck
Strutt, executive director of the Multi-State Lottery Association. 

The jackpot has already rolled over 16 consecutive times without a
winner, but Powerball officials say they now believe there is a 75
percent chance the winning combination will be drawn this time. 

If one ticket hits the right numbers, chances are good that multiple
ones will, according to some experts. That happened in the Mega
Millions drawing in March, when three ticket buyers shared a $656
million jackpot. That remains the largest lottery payout of all time. 

Yvette Gavin, who sold the tickets to Fallie, is only an occasional
lottery player herself, but the huge jackpot means she'll definitely
play this time. As for the promises she often gets from ticket
purchasers, Gavin isn't holding her breath. 

"A lot of customers say if they win they will take care of me, but I
will have to wait and see," she said. 

In the hours before Wednesday's drawing, Associated Press
photographers fanned out across the nation to meet ticket buyers and
ask about their lottery fantasies. Here's a look at what they found: 

...

Paralegal Pat Powell was buying her first Powerball ticket at another
store in Atlanta, even though she acknowledged her odds were probably
"zero to zero." 

...

Horticulturist Kevin Brags buys tickets at the store two to three
times a month. He says he usually picks numbers higher than 32 because
so many people use numbers 31 and lower, largely because of
birthdays. 

The birthday theory didn't scare off Paul Kruzel, a retired doctor who
chooses the days his children were born. 

...

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be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated
Press contributed to this report.