A half billion dollars

COEUR d'ALENE - It's almost an unthinkable number. A half billion dollars.

There are a lot of trips to Cancun via private plane, in all those zeroes. A lot of life-changing charity donations. A nice collection of diamond-studded jet skis.

Plenty of Kootenai County residents on Tuesday were letting their imaginations fly as they procured $2 tickets for this evening's Powerball drawing.

That's because after Monday's surge of ticket sales, the Powerball prize had swelled from $425 million to $500 million on Tuesday, marking the second highest prize in world lottery history.

"It's ridiculously high," said Dorothy Blevens, standing in the Fairway Grocery and Gas after purchasing 13 tickets. "My husband called me at work and said, 'Stop on the way home.'"

The Coeur d'Alene woman had humble dreams, as far as lotto fantasies go. She would fly in relatives from out of state who can't afford to visit. She would upgrade the family home and car.

And she would give a lot of her winnings away.

"I work for the Goodwill, so money would go to the Goodwill. And there's another organization that helps get people out of poverty, Circles," Blevens said. "I'd give money to them."

Local convenience stores were measuring people's enthusiasm in ticket sales.

Fairway had already sold $865 worth of tickets by early afternoon, said employee Vera Gilpatrick.

"If you win, remember my name is Vera," she said with a smile to a man buying six tickets.

There hadn't been long lines of ticket buyers yet, Gilpatrick said, but she expected the store would be packed today with last-minute hopefuls.

"Tomorrow there will be lines and we'll be busy until 7," Gilpatrick predicted. "It would be awesome if we sold the winning ticket. It would be even more awesome if I won."

Barbara Permenter, employee at the Zip Stop on Sherman Avenue, said that though ticket sales had been strong this week, it wasn't the madhouse she had seen for the Mega Millions jackpot months ago that soared to $656 million.

"It's steadier than usual, but it was more crazy back then," Permenter said.

She's buying a ticket, she said, even though Powerball isn't usually her game.

"Because it's $500 million," she said. "I just hope whoever wins does something really good with the money. I'd give it away. I'd see the country, go and drive and drop off money at every food bank I could find."

Maybe her plan will happen, since ticket holders here seem to hold an advantage.

This summer, Idaho ranked as the No. 1 jurisdiction per capita for wins of half a million dollars or higher, in multi-state games like Powerball, said David Workman, Idaho Lottery spokesman.

"We had five people win a million dollars or higher on Powerball in a 3-month period," Workman said.

An Idaho resident also won a half million dollars on Wild Card this summer, he added. Another won $3.7 million on Hot Lotto.

Hopefully, the streak continues.

Jamie Rowland of Coeur d'Alene opted to hand-pick numbers on his tickets at Fairway on Tuesday.

"I've heard the odds are better if you pick your own numbers," Rowland said.

If he wins, he said, he plans to give some away to charity. The rest will go toward bringing up his twin 10-year-old sons and 16-year-old daughter, he said, and to spoiling his wife.

"I just want to make sure I can provide for my family," he said.

The Powerball jackpot has escalated after rolling over 16 times without anyone claiming the big prize.

No store has an advantage over another in providing a winning ticket, Workman said.

"Every ticket has the exact same chance of winning," he said.