Valley residents would help others with Powerball money

By KALEA HALL

khall@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Try to imagine what $1.5 billion looks like.

It’s hard to visualize what that amount of money could buy.

It’s even harder to win that amount of money, but that hasn’t stopped people from dreaming.

The Powerball “brings a lot of people in,” said Al Adi, owner of the Downtown Circle convenience store in Youngstown. “It excites people. It brings a lot of people in that have an imagination to try to go as far as winning the jackpot.”

In the Mahoning Valley, the dream seems to be to help others.

“It’s just so much money,” said Chuck Shall of Liberty, who bought tickets Tuesday at Downtown Circle. “There’s a lot of needy people out there. I would probably give some away.”

Roberta Stranko of Austintown also would help out others.

“I would probably pay off some debts and make sure everyone in my family is taken care of,” she said after buying $10 in Powerball tickets from the Lucky Lotto shop on U.S. Route 224.

Allen Mollenkopf of Struthers said he would give most of the money away if he wins.

“That’s more money than I would ever spend in my lifetime,” he said.

All three also would spoil themselves – a little.

With the snow flying around her car Tuesday, Stranko was adamant in her purchase of “an island away from here.”

Shall said he would retire early, move somewhere warm and live happily ever after with his wife.

Lastly, Mollenkopf said he would buy a decent car, a nice motorcycle and a small home.

“I’ll pick a lot of my own numbers and see what happens,” Mollenkopf said.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292 million. The odds of winning at all are 1 in 25.

Here’s how it works: Five white balls are drawn out of a drum of 69 balls. Then, one red ball, the Powerball, is drawn out of a drum with 26 other red balls.

The jackpot winner matches all five white balls and the red Powerball. The winner can choose to receive a lump-sum cash payment or an annuitized prize paid out over 29 years. The annuity allows for the winner to receive payments that increase by 5 percent each year.

The second prize winner matches all five white balls in any order and receives $1 million in cash only.

In total, there are nine ways to win the Powerball game, including if you match three white balls or just the Powerball.

G. Andy Chang, statistics professor at Youngstown State University, explained the Powerball jackpot is considered nearly impossible to win.

“That’s really, really difficult,” he said. “I guess eventually someone will win. It is good so many people are playing because it increases the chances.”

The Powerball drawing will be at 10:59 tonight.