Puerto Rico

Residents Flock to ‘Lucky' SoCal Store for Powerball Fever

With the Powerball jackpot at a record-setting high, people across the Southland were flocking to the stores to try their luck on Friday.

No one matched the numbers drawn for Wednesday nights' jackpot, sending the estimated prize for Saturday night's Powerball drawing to a staggering $800 million, the largest jackpot of any lottery game in U.S. history.

Powerball fever was building at Bluebird's Liquor store in Hawthorne, where customers formed lines that stretched down the block. The store, which many consider lucky, claims seven lottery jackpot wins of up to $1 million.

Although it's been 12 years since the last big jackpot hit Bluebird, customers continued to rub the bluebird statue at the store for luck after their purchase.

"I hope my boss isn't watching," said one customer who was out buying a lotto ticket during his lunch break.

The cash value for Saturday's prize is $496 million before taxes, according to powerball.com and winners have 180 days from the drawing to claim their prize.

The jackpot has continued to climb since Wednesday's $500 million drawing. It rose to $700 million on Thursday and soared to a whopping $800 million Friday morning.

The previous record for a lottery was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot won in March 2012.

Powerball is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The odds of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number are 1 in 293 million.

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