A few fun facts about the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot

The big victor should also sign the winning ticket immediately.

“All persons are prohibited from importing into the United States from any foreign country… any lottery ticket, or any printed paper that may be used as a lottery ticket”, the law states. No one has matched all six Powerball numbers since then, so the prize kept growing. Each purchase of $20 or more comes with a free ticket.

Sarabia made a decision to just buy both, and the rest is history.

“We just need I guess a little bit more money for upgraded books and computers”, an employee said.

Powerball tickets are $2 each, though people face long odds of winning.

As the Powerball brings people across the border with hopes of becoming rich, it is also helping Nogales businesses. Like the Australian Powerball, ticket holders choose five numbers between 1 and 69 as well as an all-important “powerball” number between 1 and 26.

The Powerball jackpot continues to climb ahead of Wednesday night’s drawing.

“It’s $2, why not?” she said. “One ticket’s all it’s going to take to win”. Next, Uncle Sam will take a chunk – 39.6 percent to be precise, the rate at which big jackpots are taxed – costing you roughly $368 million, reducing your haul to $562 million.

“I think pooling for those kinds of things is your best bet winning”, says Vera. She was at it again on Tuesday afternoon at the Allsup’s convenience store on Church and Main streets, drawn by the huge possible winnings.

That means someone would have to buy 292.2 million tickets. Lottery officials say that during the 11 a.m. hour on Tuesday, sales in California were $7.62 million, compared with $4.64 million for the same period on Monday.

You have to live in the U.S.to play Powerball, but if a Canadian or any foreigner wins, they’ll be taxed at 30 percent; that’s about 5 percent higher than Americans. It’s a lot of money. I can’t spend it all myself. “Wouldn’t that be that right thing to do?”

Maddy Hayden can be reached at 575-628-5512.