Powerball sales brisk for 11th largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history

Wayne Coke isn't a weekly Powerball lottery player, but he made an exception Thursday.

Coke, of Portage, drove to the Speedway on U.S. 6 in Portage to buy $20 worth of tickets. He wanted a shot at the Powerball jackpot Saturday night worth an estimated $310 million.

"When it gets so high I play, and this sounds like a good number," Coke said.

Coke is hoping he's holding the winning ticket.

"Anyone who buys a ticket is hopeful, and all it takes is one ticket to win. ... If Lady Luck and God smile on you, you'll get it," Coke said.

Speedway manager Jim Pekar said Powerball sales have been brisk at the gas station at U.S. 6 and Swanson Road.

"More people are playing this week than normal, and I'm seeing lots of first-timers, those who have never played," Pekar said.

Powerball sales were equally brisk down the street, at the Family Express on U.S. 6 in Hobart, employee Mallory Schlosser said.

She sold a Powerball ticket to Cindy Hehr, of Portage, who plays the lottery game on a regular basis.

"Someone has to win it," Hehr said.

The next nationwide Powerball jackpot drawing will be the 11th-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history — and fourth largest Powerball jackpot ever.

The top 10 pools range from the $314.3 million Powerball prize won in Indiana in August 2007 to all-time U.S. record prize of $390 million, split between two Mega Millions tickets sold in New Jersey and George in March 2006.

Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Jill Bodo, of Portage, said she plays Powerball on a regular basis using the same numbers.

Bodo, who works days as a Speedway clerk and nights delivering The Times of Northwest Indiana newspaper, already has planned what she'd do with the millions if she wins.

"I'd buy us a house and I'd pay off my car. I'd also make sure my two kids, 17 and 10, had their college paid for. ... It would be a nice chunk of change," Bodo said.

Reuben Jones, a steelworker who lives in Portage, came to Speedway and picked up a Powerball card to fill out at home.

Jones said he plans to come back to the gas station to play his numbers closer to the drawing.

If Jones wins, he said he'd first hire an accountant to manage his money and then quit his job.

"Bye-bye," Jones said with a wave of his hand.