MALAD, Idaho (ABC4 News) – The small town on the Utah - Idaho border is getting a boost in business due to the influx of people buying Powerball tickets.
The Powerball is played in 42 states and Utah isn’t one of them. This has Utahns flocking to Malad for the chance to get rich.
Wednesday’s drawing will be the biggest Powerball in the game’s history set at $550 million.
“I didn’t think it was going to be this bad, but it’s worth the wait,” Alisha Saco, from Heber, Utah said.
Thousands of people stood in line for an average of 45 minutes at KJ’s Super Store. The business is formerly known as the Quick Stop.
Manager Geoff Green said all four lotto machines are running in addition to two extra cash registers.
“It’s going pretty good,” Green added.
When a jackpot gets this big it’s not only the person who buys the ticket that wins. Businesses like Spero’s BBQ saw a rise in customers.
Owner Speros Barbas said he saw about triple or quadruple his regular
The money spent by Utahns boosts businesses in Malad and helps pay for education expenses.
“I was ready for this because we got caught by surprise during the summer,” Barbas said. “We ran of food for two days.”
Stores will stop selling tickets at 8 p.m. mountain time. The odds of winning the big jackpot are one in 175 million.
