Powerball hopefuls travel near and far to play at local lucky store in Mandarin

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — You have until 10:00 p.m. tonight to play Powerball.

The estimated jackpot is up to $441M and I think we can all agree—bringing in the new year with some extra cash sounds pretty good right about now.

Action News Jax Courtney Cole visited The Welcome Food Store on Loretto Road in Mandarin. It’s one of the stores in our area that’s known to be lucky when it comes to selling the winning ticket.

Customers from near and far shelled out a little cash at The Welcome Food store for what they hoped will be a big return.

The right combination of 5 numbers could make someone hundreds of millions of dollars richer.

“We’ve seen a constant barrage of people coming in buying tickets,” said Karen Reape, the Manager of The Welcome Food Store on Loretto Road.

Jesse Rilea told Cole when he walked in and they told him they’re the luckiest store in Jacksonville, he figured he’d give it a shot.

“I got like $30 worth. I think it’s like 10 tickets or something like that?” Rilea explained.

The Powerball jackpot is now up to $441M and the people Cole spoke to today already know what they’d do with the winnings.

“Pay off some college debt, set up a fund for my son, he’s three right now, and probably get moved into a bigger house for him,” Rilea told Action News Jax.

“First thing I’m going to do is pay my house up, then I’m going to save up enough money to send my grandkids to college,” Jeffree Ware said.

Courtney Cole: “How many grandkids do you have?”

Jeffree Ware: “Thirteen!”

The jackpot was last hit on October 4, 2021, in California— when a single ticket scored a nearly $700M payout.

Reape told Cole they have winners at her store all the time!

“We always have people driving like...hours. Coming from Georgia, from Alabama. They’ll come from like South Florida. We had a couple the other night, they drove 2 1/2 hours just to buy their tickets,” said Reape.

According to the Powerball website, Powerball jackpot winners were Floridians in March and June of this year.

“We play it every week, my wife and I. She has this dream about winning, so this may be her week!” exclaimed Ware.

“I could be the one,” Rilea said.

“You could be the one!” Cole responded.

If you’re playing for the first time—Reape suggests playing quick pick (letting the computer choose the numbers for you), but also filling out a card yourself, just to give yourself the best chances you can, to win.

She said it best -- you’ve got to be in it, to win it!

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