SEATTLE — A billion-dollar prize is on the line this Labor Day weekend. Enough money that you would never have to labor again.
“You can’t win if you don’t buy it. You might as well just buy one just in case. You never know,” said Rafael Romero after buying his ticket.
PREVIOUSLY | Powerball jackpot soars to $950 million, making it the sixth-largest in game’s history
As ticket sales climbed this week, game officials raised the estimated Saturday night jackpot to $1 billion from $950 million, before taxes.
Powerball ticket sales are skyrocketing in Washington and across the country. If there is just one winner, they could take the billion-dollar prize in 30 payments or one lump sum of $453 million.
The odds of matching all six numbers, of course, are daunting: 1 in 292.2 million
But local players say they already have plans of the big payout.
“All I know is I would probably stop working for awhile until I found something I could do that I’m passionate about. That would be nice,” said John Olsen outside a convivence store.
“Buy a house for sure. Invest for retirement, and that’s it pretty much,” said Romero.
No one has hit the Powerball jackpot since May 31. That has boosted the current jackpot to the billion-dollar mark.
It’s the 6th-largest Powerball prize ever. The biggest was a little over $2 billion, won by one person in California back in 2022.
A huge return on a $2 investment.
“Not that expensive. I do it occasionally. If it happens, great, awesome. It would be life changing,” said Olsen.
A prize that could make this the Labor Day weekend that lasts for the rest of your life.
