Powerball changes equals jackpot surge

GREEN BAY - Festival Foods on Green Bay's west side has produced lottery winners before.

“We've had a $250,000 winner and a million dollar winner in the last year,” said Annette Devalk, a manager at Festival Foods.

The frequency of those big winners could be going up with recent changes to the Powerball game.

“It's jumping up, a lot higher, a lot faster,” said Ryan Wusso of Green Bay.

Mid January, the price of a ticket went from a buck to two. That raised starting jackpots from $20 million to $40 million.

“The thought process was to get bigger jackpots and it's worked,” said Mike Edmonds, the director of Wisconsin Lottery.

Edmonds says the proof is Saturday night's pot of $325 million. It is the third largest total in history. The largest came in 2006 at $365 million.

Edmonds says the record number will likely be beat if there is no winner in the next drawing.

“If nobody wins that, we're probably looking at a jackpot close to $400 million, which would be a record,” said Edmonds.

Odds of you winning are long, but they also became better with the price jump. Down from one in 195 million, you're change of winning is now at one in 175 million.

“I usually wait until it gets big,” said Wusso.

Wusso isn't alone. On an average week, state lottery officials say the state garners a million dollars in revenue from Powerball sales. With a jackpot like $325 million, they expect that figure to triple.

“People seem to buy a lot more when the jackpot is a lot higher, so I expect sales to me up tomorrow,” said DeValk.

At Festival Foods, fingers are crossed those extra sales will produce another big winner.