Strong ticket sales have pushed Wednesday night’s record Powerball jackpot to $550 million dollars.
Lottery officials said Georgia retailers sold $6 million of the $2 tickets by 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Donnie Smith was at the Texaco convenience store at Peachtree and Collier roads early Tuesday.
He said he tried to buy tickets on Sunday in Lithonia, but the machines were down. Tuesday, he was able to purchase his chances at the big payout.
Smith said he doesn’t often play the lottery, but “since the jackpot is so high, I thought I would give it a try.”
Georgia Lottery spokeswoman Tandi Reddick said problems occurred after lottery sales software was upgraded Sunday.
“Monday, with increased sales as a result of the record … Powerball jackpot and with new retailers logging on at the same time, we again experienced network issues,” said Reddick Tuesday. “Our slowest transaction times were between noon and 1 p.m. Monday.”
Technicians were able to “optimize traffic on the network” Monday, said Reddick, and retailers “saw significant improvements with performance.”
Approximately 600 of the Georgia Lottery’s 8,300 retailers reported problems Monday. Tuesday, only 21 retailers reported problems, Reddick said. There were no reports of delays by late Tuesday afternoon, she said.
Tuesday’s Powerball sales in Georgia eclipsed $4.5 million by 8 p.m., Reddick said.
The Powerball jackpot climbed to the record level after Saturday night’s 16th consecutive drawing without a big winner. If a single player matches all six numbers in Wednesday night’s drawing and chooses the cash option, he or she would receive a single payout of $360 million before taxes.
The Powerball drawing will be held just before Channel 2 Action News at 11 p.m.
Smith already has plans for the money if he wins the big windfall: “Help my family, friends and live a different life – probably go to Brazil, take a long trip. Enjoy that money.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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