By Cameron Ladner
STARKVILLE, Miss. (Take 30 News) ---People across Mississippi have been flocking to their local gas stations ever since scratch off tickets came to the state near the end of last year.
That buzz has doubled down in recent months with the new Mississippi Powerball and Mega Millions that came to Mississippi on January 30th
In the last half of 2019, the state reported over 49 million dollars raised from scratch-off lotteries, and with the new Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots out, the Mississippi Lottery Commission expects that number to get a big boost.
Gas stations are seeing big boosts in business too, with some employers giving free tickets to workers.
The last Powerball was drawn February 8th, and there was no winner, pushing the new jackpot up to 70 million dollars. That’s close to Mississippi’s entire lottery revenue from scratch offs for the past year.
Odds for correctly guessing every Powerball number is 1 in 292 million, but those numbers aren’t stopping people from having confidence that their ticket is the big winner. State Reps., gas station clerks, and customers alike all seem to have something to get excited about.
Revenue from all Mississippi Lotteries goes to the state treasury fund for roads and highways.