Locals cashing in on $800 million Powerball

The Powerball jackpot has swelled to an all-time record of $800 million, many flocked to local convenience stores on Friday hoping to grab that winning ticket.

Numbers will be drawn Saturday. That’s the 19th drawing with no one matching all six numbers.

If the winning numbers are not drawn Saturday the jackpot will only get bigger!

The odds of picking all six winning numbers is around one in 293 million.

But people buying tickets remain optimistic.

Jerry Lambert buys tickets just about every week.

He’s been lucky before and he’s hoping his luck hasn’t run out.

“Well, I once won $6,000. It promptly went to redo our kitchen,” Lambert said.

He’s already got some ideas about what he’s going to do with the money.

“Well, 10 percent I would give to charities. And then I would split it with my wife 50/50 and turn it into a family trust,” Lambert said.

Chandi Group USA, which owns many gas stations across the valley, said its stores are seeing record sales.

“There’s a lot of people who have been coming to buy the tickets for the last three days, and they’re very excited,” cashier Ana Garcia said.

People seemed to have very different plans when it came to what to do with the money.

“Well, I got my eye on a table saw down at Home Depot,” said John Motsinger, who lives in Cathedral City.

“If I win it I’m going to buy a new set of race horses and hopefully buy a Kentucky Derby Winner,” Clyde Yamada said.

If you’re thinking of purchasing a ticket click here to see the California Lottery’s Lucky Retailers page.

It shows the places based on ZIP code that sell the most winning tickets.