Powerball reaches $800 million

People have been buying tickets in droves ahead of the biggest jackpot ever, with ticket sales causing the estimated jackpot to jump from $650 million to the $800 million it sits at now, with another increase possible before the drawing.

It’s the brain chemical associated with reward, pleasure and addiction.

Gloria Mackenzie, 84, from Florida holds the record for winning the largest single Powerball jackpot of $590.5 million, on May 18, 2013.

Matching all the white balls would earn winning players $1 million and shave their odds down to one in about one in 11 million, and the website lists seven other ways that purchasing a ticket can win some cash.

A Union City store sold a Powerball ticket worth more than $1 million, but that’s chump change compared to the jackpot up for grabs in the next drawing.

But there’s no reason you couldn’t be the victor of its predicted $800 million jackpot on Saturday evening. But that amount is not the big $800 million sum.

Although some didn’t know the jackpot went higher, folks do know how they would spend the money.

During pleasurable experiences, dopamine floods the brain and urges humans to repeat the bliss-blasting behavior. Indeed, it could end up being worth more than $800 million. Lottery officials recommend that if people pool their money, they put in writing how they plan to split the prize – since it’s easy for misunderstandings to crop up when hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. But this week’s Powerball has lured a horde of new customers.

People wait in a meandering line at Kavanagh Liquors in San Lorenzo, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 8, 2016. “The odds of winning are pretty astronomical, and the old adage is if you don’t play you can’t win”. If you buy the ticket online the ticket will be purchased in the nearest USA state. He claimed the prize on Friday.

“And that was just for $700 million”, Burlingham said.

At the 7-Eleven store on 6th Avenue and Josephine, customers are buying tickets by the fistful, perhaps filled with the belief a win will buy them happiness. “And when that happens, we think dopamine is released, particularly in the nucleus accumbens”. Ridenour has been buying lottery tickets and a deli dinner at Brown’s for 15 years.

“I’m hoping that today will be my last day at work”, laughed one Powerball player.

“I haven’t played myself for about 10 years now, because to me it’s just kind of ‘meh, ‘ ” she said. But even lottery officials say they don’t know what to expect. They frequently discussed paying off mortgages and buying future houses. Which led to me wonder if someone like Trump, or Martin Shkreli should gamble some of their money on the Powerball.

“We pull back on the marketing because there’s so much buzz”, Medenica said. Mulling over a potential billion dollar payday, if the jackpot continues to grow, she said winning would be overwhelming.