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Powerball powering food, retail sales

3 min read
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Corey DiGiovanni of Countryside Deli in Washington looks over records that show the effect of the growing Powerball jackpot on sales.

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Jennifer DiGiovanni prints Powerball tickets for customers Tuesday at Countryside Deli. She said it seems that “almost every other person who buys food buys a ticket.”

When Corey DiGiovanni pushed to get lottery sales in Countryside Deli on Henderson Avenue in Washington, he didn’t expect it would result in a steady stream of foot traffic to his eatery.

“I was up at 8 a.m. every day for three weeks in early 2015 calling state officials to get a license. And now during Powerball drawings, it nearly quadruples our sales,” DiGiovanni said.

The Powerball jackpot grew once again Tuesday to $1.5 billion, and a few of the lunchtime customers at Countryside were first-time buyers because the prize increased. During a typical week – such as Dec. 8 to 14 – the store posted 167 ticket sales for $386. But last week saw 740 customers purchasing $4,245 worth of tickets.

“And we had three people Monday who bought $100 each for themselves,” said Jennifer DiGiovanni, Corey’s wife. The revenue from lottery sales isn’t a draw, in itself, for retailers, according to the DiGiovannis, as they make only 5 cents on every dollar sold. It’s the boost for the rest of the business that pays off.

“Might as well give it a shot. I’d retire if I got it. But I didn’t buy any last week,” said Johnna White of Amwell Township.

“I’ve bought six since Sunday,” said Cody Skeen of Washington.

“The jackpot drawings bring out a lot of good in people. I hear them checking out in line, and they say, ‘I’m going to donate half to charity.’ So I hope one of those people win,” Corey DiGiovanni said.

As for charitable donations, a winner could write off those tax-deductible contributions, according to State Farm spokesman Dave Phillips.

“Put together a crack team – an attorney, an accountant, maybe even security or increased protections on your property … because there will be increased attention to a winner. And through it all, set a budget, don’t quit your day job yet and bank it,” Phillips said.

The odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 292 million. Washington & Jefferson College mathematics department chairman Dr. Ryan Higginbottom put it a more novel way.

“If you take the U.S. Steel tower building in Pittsburgh – which is 841 feet tall – and take stacks of quarters that reach the top, you would have to pick a single quarter amongst 1,996 stacks of coins,” Higginbottom said.

The astronomical odds haven’t stopped buyers. The chance at a record-breaking prize has brought out droves of first-time and returning lottery players.

“I think what you have in most people’s minds is a mismatch of the mathematical odds and the optimistic psychology of the lottery, because it’s figured that somebody’s got to win. But the odds of someone winning and a particular person winning are often falsely conflated in a person’s mind,” Higginbottom said, “and the more people buy tickets, also going up are the odds of somebody splitting a lesser top prize.”

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