EAST VILLAGE — Against all odds, lottery players in 44 states are hoping to win a record $1.5 billion jackpot in Wednesday night's Powerball drawing and many have taken to social media to share how they'd spend their hypothetical fortunes.
For some couples, whether to buy tickets is a source of friction.
"My husband is anti-lottery," David Maier told DNAinfo just after he was observed buying $30 worth of Powerball tickets at a Citgo, 1949 W. Augusta Ave, in East Village on Tuesday.
Maier said $26 of his buy was from a small office pool he informally started during lunch earlier in the day and the other $4 was for himself.
"Does that mean you will not share with your husband if you win?" DNAinfo asked.
"What winners? There won't be any," Matt McGrane, Maier's husband, quipped, adding, "I don't like it [the lottery]."
Turning to Maier, McGrane said, "Once you win my opinion of the lottery will really change."
McGrane, a designer, called Maier "the numbers guy" in the family, making the decision even more illogical.
Maier said that this past Saturday was the first time he'd played the lottery in several years.
Yaser Sublaban, manager of the Citgo said the gas station is selling "maybe 10 to 15 times" more tickets than usual.
"Once it hit a billion, people are coming in and asking how to play it. They don't know. Lottery getting really big right now. One customer bought $500 worth of tickets,' Sublaban said.
At a 7-Eleven, 1508 N. Damen Ave. in Wicker Park, Patrick Cormany, was waiting in line to buy $20 worth of tickets for a pool made up of himself and two roommates.
"I am an investment consultant and this is is the worst investment you can make," Cormany acknowledged.
7-Eleven owner Harish Doshi said he usually sees about $400 worth of Powerball ticket sales, but this past Saturday, when the jackpot climbed to hundreds of millions, the store had a Powerball sales record of $3,600.
"And now when you say billion, I think more than 1,000 people will come [to buy tickets]. People are optimistic. I ask people what they will do with the money. They say I will give you half, I will give to charity, I will have a law firm to manage all the money," Doshi said.
He concluded, "People are fulfilling their fantasy; they want to have their dream come true."
#wickerpark 7 11 owner on why people are buying so many #powerball tickets https://t.co/zdQaq5jW2Z
— Alisa Hauser (@DNA_WPB) January 12, 2016For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
