1.3 M Powerball Tickets Sold On First Day

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Highlands Today
Published: January 06, 2009

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TALLAHASSEE --

Lottery officials say almost half a million Powerball tickets were sold the first day they went on sale in Florida.

Florida is the 30th state, along with the District of Columbia and the U.S Virgin Islands, to offer the game.

By the end of the day Sunday, retailers had sold 1.3 million of the $1 tickets in the Sunshine State. Another 200,000 tickets were sold in advance. The next drawing for the multistate lottery is Wednesday for an estimated jackpot of $105 million. The odds are 1 in 195 million.

Winning jackpots have averaged $38 million. In 2006, a winner claimed a record $365 million. Officials expect Florida's participation will make the jackpots even bigger.