Powerball jackpot hits $800 million

IOWA CITY - The record shattering Powerball jackpot continues to climb into uncharted territory - surpassing the $800 million mark on Friday - and people are taking notice.

Even the cash payout option for the Iowa Powerball jackpot would be $496 million and the admittedly slim chance of winning has Iowans dreaming of the possibilities.

But for some of the Powerball players buying that potential winning ticket Friday at First Avenue Hy-Vee, 812 S. First Ave., plans for the payout didn't involve sports cars, exotic trips or lavish mansions.

In true 'Iowa Nice” fashion, their minds were on others.

'What I'd like to do is make sure all my relatives are comfortable,” said John Moyers, 66. 'And give to charities, that's what it's all about.”

Bill Radl, 66, said he too would divide the winnings among his family, but added he would feel compelled to do so quickly.

'This is sum of money is going to ruin anybody's life, it's just a massive piece of money,” he said. 'For me, I'd just have to get rid of it.”

While Radl and Moyers, who are both regular Powerball players, acknowledged the chances of winning are slim - odds of getting the jackpot in Powerball are about 1 in 292.2 million - but neither is immune to the thrill of the lottery. 'It's just exciting to think about,” Radl said.

Ryan Roberts, store director for Iowa City's First Avenue Hy-Vee, said, once the jackpot climbs into the nine-digit level, ticket sales start to increase.

'Anytime the jackpot gets this high - over $200, $300 million - we'll see an increase of people coming in,” Roberts said. 'It's kind of a constant flow of people.”

And the jackpot has been growing exponentially, increasing by about $100,000 million alone between Wednesday and Friday.

Deb Johnson, customer service manager at First Avenue Hy-Vee, said, it's common to see more first timers playing the lottery at times like this.

'People come out of the woodwork when it gets this high,” she said. 'It gets fairly hectic when that's going on.”

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich expects a record number of tickets to be sold in advance of Saturday's drawing for an estimated $800 million Powerball jackpot.

'We are in unchartered territory,” Rich said Friday in Cedar Rapids. 'We found out that we could print ‘Commemorative Ticket' on all the tickets sold through Saturday night. That way people buying tickets can say they were part of the big jackpot and could dream a little bit.”

Rich said the estimated jackpot has been revised every day at about 10 a.m. He said revising the estimated jackpot on Saturday morning will require 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to bring in personnel to update their websites,

'The true Powerball jackpot number will be determined at 8:59 Saturday night, when we shut off ticket sales,” Rich said.

Gazette reporter George Ford contributed to this report.