Lines long for Powerball

By MEREDITH GOAD, Staff Writer

Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

E-mail this story to a friend

WHAT ARE THE ODDS? WINNING POWERBALL: 1 in 120,526,770 DYING FROM A DOG BITE: 1 in 147,717 BEING KILLED BY FIREWORKS: 1 in 615,488 FALLING OR JUMPING FROM A HIGH PLACE: 1 in 47,960 BEING KILLED BY LIGHTNING: 1 in 83,930 DYING IN AN UNCONTROLLED STRUCTURE FIRE: 1 in 1,382 DYING IN A CAR ACCIDENT: 1 in 247 DYING IN THE BATHTUB: 1 in 1,469 — Sources: Powerball and the National Safety Council A WINNING STRATEGY DON CATLIN, a retired math professor and author of "The Lottery Book: The Truth Behind the Numbers," says there is no way to increase your chances of winning the Powerball or any other lottery. But there are ways you can increase the chances you won't have to share the jackpot with any one else. AVOID POPULAR numbers like 7, 11, 13 and 19. The number 19 is undesirable because it's the first two numbers of a birth year, and many people choose to play birthdays. LET THE "QUICK PICK" choose your numbers for you because the computer doesn't have any bias built into it. To top of story

Ian Lamb dropped into Joe's Smoke Shop on Congress Street in Portland around noon Friday to buy an easy pick lottery ticket, the way he always does when the jackpot reaches about a million dollars.

But when a clerk reminded him that Powerball tickets had just gone on sale, he jumped at the chance to buy a $1 shot at a $54 million jackpot. If he wins, he'll probably buy a home and a car.

"My life wouldn't change at all," he said. "The only difference is that I would have a little more money. A lot more money. I could get off of disability. Me and my wife, we live paycheck by paycheck."

Scores of Mainers showed up Friday at convenience stores, gas stations, supermarkets and other retailers for the opportunity to play the state's first game of Powerball. Maine is now one of 27 states, along with the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia, to offer the twice-weekly game that has a minimum jackpot of $10 million.

The smallest prize offered by the Powerball game is $3.

At Joe's Smoke Shop, customers have been asking all week about the game, but there was no line at the lottery machine Friday. Michael Discatio, the owner, said Saturday is usually his big day for lottery sales.

He expects a lot of people will want to play the game. Customers prefer the astronomically high lottery jackpots, he said, and Powerball jackpots are always high.

"People are weird. They'll come in and they won't buy a ticket" if the jackpot is just $1 million, Discatio said. "It's like a million isn't good enough for them, you know what I mean?"

The largest Powerball payout in history came two years ago, when Jack Whittaker of West Virginia won $314.9 million. In 2001, Patricia and Erwin Wales of Buxton won $41 million with a Powerball ticket they bought in Rollinsford, N.H.

State officials predict Powerball could bring in about $9 million in revenue the first year. Retailers are hoping the new game will bring them added business now that Mainers don't have to go to New Hampshire to buy tickets.

At Moran's Market on Forest Avenue, the lunch crowd ate up 30 to 40 Powerball tickets shortly after they went on sale, said Katie Martin, a clerk at the store.

"Some people just overheard other people getting Powerball, and that's when they said, 'Oh, I'll get one of those,' " she said. "We had pretty long lines for lunch."

Katy Cormier of Westbrook was disappointed when she tried to buy five tickets and discovered she couldn't use her debit card.

"I was going to buy them for my mom because she is very big into it," she said. "I used to go to school in Massachusetts and my brother is in New Hampshire, so she used to have us pick them up on our way through. But now that they're here, she's all excited."

Don Catlin, a retired mathematics professor from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and author of "The Lottery Book: The Truth Behind the Numbers," said Powerball players shouldn't get too excited. He calls lotteries "a lousy bet," though he admits to playing them himself when the jackpots grow exceedingly large.

"If you play Powerball, and it doesn't matter what the prize is, the chance that you're going to win absolutely nothing is 97 percent," he said. "I don't discourage people from playing, but you shouldn't play with your food and rent money because you're probably going to lose."

In Powerball, players try to match five numbers drawn from a drum with 53 numbered balls and one powerball number drawn from a separate drum with 42 numbered balls. In Megabucks, players pick six numbers from a single drum with 42 balls.

Maine players Friday were unfazed by their chances of winning the $54 million Powerball grand prize, which are about 1 in 120 million.

"Hey, who knows," Ian Lamb said as he prepared to buy his ticket at Joe's Smoke Shop. "One day you might get lucky. You never know, you know? It happens."

Staff Writer Meredith Goad can be contacted at 791-6332 or at:

mgoad@pressherald.com