Powerball fever heats up across Mid-Michigan - ABC 12 – WJRT – Flint, MI

(11/28/12) - Mid-Michigan sure is feeling lucky on this Wednesday.

Powerball officials expect to sell 105,000 tickets every minute up until the drawing Wednesday night.

The odds of winning the jackpot are roughly 1 in 175 million, but ticket holders in Mid-Michigan like their chances anyway.

It's the largest pot of money in the lottery's history. You have until 10:59 tonight to become part of all the action gripping the nation.

"I'd give a lot away I'm sure. I'd help people I know, help out the churches in the area, a lot of people have done stuff for me in my life, so I'd give mostly it away," said Powerball player Dale Sneed.

Some of the people we've talked to are first time lottery players. They've never once bought a ticket, but were making an exception Wednesday.

Sharon Damon has never bought a lotto ticket in her life - and Wednesday, she purchased two.

"There's so much money involved, I thought I might be lucky," she said.

The very thought of becoming a millionaire overnight - brought tears to her eyes.

"Oh man, I'd help my kids out, pay for their homes, a lot of good things, donate some money, it would be great," she said.

Some people have a strategy - picking important dates like kids' birthdays and anniversaries. Others just got with an easy pick, where a computer generates the numbers.

"The lower numbers are the birthdays, the higher numbers not likely, but more likely to come up because they're higher numbers," said Lillie Thomas, Powerball player.

Even store manager Ashley Persails is giving it try.

"I am, I'm having my boys picking out the number for me right now, hopefully they're lucky," she said.

Lottery officials expect to sell more than 105,000 tickets every minute up until the drawing.