$500 million Powerball jackpot draws surge in lottery sales

A Powerball jackpot of $500 million to be announced Wednesday has sparked a surge of ticket sales in the state, according to the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery.

Ticket sales for this drawing period, which began Monday, were up to $667,000 early Wednesday, state lottery director Bishop Woosley said in an email.

Last week, retailers in the state sold more than $1.25 million in Powerball tickets, and total sales for the current run beginning Nov. 5 are more than $5.5 million, Woosley said.

At the E-Z Mart on Rebshamen Park Road in Little Rock, Assistant Manager Michelle Nance said the past two days of Powerball sales have been the busiest she has ever seen. Regulars who don't normally play the lottery have taken the chance, she said, and two customers told her it was the first time they ever played.

"A whole bunch of people have been in here today; they've been coming in since 6 a.m. this morning," Nance said.

Wednesday's jackpot is the fourth-highest in Powerball history and the sixth-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, according to CNN.

Woosley said in the email that he hoped the state could add between $500,000 and $600,000 in sales before Wednesday night's drawing.

The state averaged more than $500,000 a week in Powerball sales last year, Woosley said.

Approximately half the money from Powerball ticket sales goes to the lottery trust fund, Woosley said. That means close to $2.8 million has been raised for education scholarships from the current run.

That's more than the average contribution from state lottery sales, which are mostly scratch-off tickets. Out of a total reported revenue of $409 million in fiscal year 2015, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery reported it transferred $72.6 million to the trust fund.