Powerball fever has Tucsonans dreaming

When Angel Martinez stopped by Park Deli and Liquor for a sandwich Monday afternoon, he also grabbed a Powerball ticket.

Like many people in Tucson and across the country, the 49-year-old house painter and remodeler had his eye on the projected $1.4 billion jackpot, the largest in U.S. history and the result of no Powerball jackpot winners since early November.

“First, I’d buy a house and a nice car. I’ve always wanted a Camaro,” Martinez said. “Then, I’d invest. I’d be quiet about it.”

He would try to make the money last, he said, noting big winners sometimes end up bankrupt a few years later.

Before taxes are taken out, the mind-boggling jackpot would make the winner outrank 18 countries’ gross domestic product in 2014, according to World Bank statistics. If the winner opts for a cash payout instead of 29 annual payments, they would walk away with $868 million before taxes.

If nobody wins the Powerball drawing Wednesday night, the jackpot could grow to more than $2 billion, said Tony Bouie, executive director of the Arizona Lottery.

“It’s beyond even thinking about, but the reality would sink in after you win,” said Ted Flores, a 55-year-old retiree who bought a Powerball ticket at Park Deli and Liquor.

First on Flores’ list would be “a really nice house that I design myself,” he said.

“I would travel. I’d like to go to Europe, maybe Ireland,” he said, adding he’s always wanted to visit New Zealand, too.

Flores doesn’t usually buy lottery tickets, but large jackpots entice him to play.

“I just get caught up in the hype,” he said.

That hype led to a 12 percent increase in lottery ticket sales through Dec. 31 compared with last year, Bouie said. The Arizona Lottery transferred $176 million to the state last year, including about $85 million for education and $65 million for health and human services.

“We’re on pace to beat that this year,” he said.

Two second-place Power-

ball tickets, each worth $1 million, were sold in Tucson last year. One $1 million ticket was sold in 2014 and another in 2013, according to information from Arizona Lottery.

The highest-draw game sales, such as Powerball, in Pima County were recorded at the Safeway store at 260 W. Continental Road in Green Valley.

The highest total sales came from the Fry’s Food and Drug at 7812 E. Speedway.

Bill Sahota, owner of Park Deli and Liquor at South Park Avenue and East Ajo Way, said the jackpot is bringing in more Powerball players every day. So far, the biggest prize from a ticket sold at the store was $2,000 last year.

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At T&T Market, 2048 S. Sixth Ave., a $2 Powerball ticket sold in 2012 ended up bringing in a $1 million prize, as well as more Powerball players, said owner Terry Gee.

“People come from all over Tucson because of the winner,” Gee said.

She has seen “1,000 times more” Powerball players in the last week than she usually sees, she said. Many of them are customers she doesn’t normally see buying lottery tickets.

“They’re willing to throw their $2 in now,” she said with a smile.

Lucio Villanueva usually buys a Powerball ticket every day at T&T Market. But with a $1.4 billion jackpot looming, he’s going to wait until a few hours before the drawing Wednesday night to buy tickets.

“I’ll play it at the last moment,” said Villanueva, 60, adding he believes the lottery system doesn’t issue the winning numbers for large jackpots until just before the drawing.

On the outside looking in is Nimai Kanazawa, who walked out of T&T without buying a Powerball ticket. The 20-year-old is one year shy of the legal age to buy lottery tickets.

If he were 21, would he buy tickets?

“Absolutely,” he said. “I wouldn’t put my whole paycheck into it, but I’d buy some.”

Not winning the jackpot may not be a problem for Kanazawa, who works as a magician and turned a handful of receipts into dollar bills with a snap of his fingers.

The former Nevada resident said his friends sent him photos of a line near Primm, Nevada, that has “two miles of people” waiting to buy tickets across the border in California.

Nevada is not one of the 44 states that participate in the Powerball drawing.

Laila Innabi, owner of J’s Westside Liquor, 1310 W. Speedway, said she has seen the number of Powerball players triple in recent days.

Although some players come in and buy a single ticket, others buy as many as 250 at a time, which means she has to stand patiently next to the terminal as it prints out the tickets.

Waiting for the terminals to print tickets is making some QuickTrip employees “stir crazy,” said company spokesman Mike Thornbrugh.

“The terminals only spit out those tickets so fast,” Thornbrugh said. “We’re not complaining, it’s just time-consuming.”

With the jackpot growing each week, stores have had to bring in more employees to deal with the lines of lottery players and pay special attention to paper stocks so they don’t run out, he said.