With 2nd-highest jackpot ever, rush is on for Powerball tickets

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — We're less than 24 hours away from the second highest Powerball drawing in history.

The drawing is TONIGHT and you can see it live before Channel 2 Action News Nightbeat at 11 p.m.

The jackpot has now climbed to a whopping $700 million and now the rush is on for tickets.

Channel 2's Rikki Klaus learned the sky high jackpot is luring people who have never played before.

Agigur Rahman is a clerk at the Shell Station Food Mart on Shallowford Road in DeKalb County but it might sound like he works for the lotto, instead.

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"I'm telling them, every single customer, buy one Powerball ticket. Almost $700 million. Change your luck. Maybe tomorrow you are the big winner," he said.

He tells them the ticket price $2 and the jackpot $700 million and it seems the math adds up for most. Klaus met with many people purchasing tickets with big dreams of winning.

Rahman says one customer spent $150 on 50 Powerball tickets. Others purchased sets of 20 and 10.

Meanwhile, in Fulton County, on Peachtree Street NE, Robin Johnson tried her luck at scoring the second biggest jackpot in Powerball history.

"I would be jumping for joy. I don't gamble. Period," she said.

The jackpot began rolling in mid-June and has kept going 20 times.

Draw Date: Wednesday

Estimated Jackpot Amount: $700 million

Annuity Amount: Jackpot prize paid over 29 years in 30 graduated payments

Cash Option Amount: Approximately $443.3 million

Cost to Play: $2 per play; an additional $1 per play to add the Power Play multiplier

Drawings: 11 p.m. ONLY on Channel 2

Overall Odds of Winning Any Prize: Approximately 1:24.87

Odds of Winning Jackpot Prize: Approximately 1:292 million

Date Jackpot Began Rolling: June 14

Number of Rolls: 20

Last Winning Jackpot Ticket: June 10 ($447.8M – California)

#1 Powerball Jackpot: Jan. 13, 2016 – $1.586 billion jackpot (Calif.; Fla.; and Tenn.)

Cox Media Group