$150 million Powerball craze hits LV

The line of anxious customers at Rose's Den inside the Boulder Inn in Kingman, Ariz., snaked through the tiny cafe, out the front door and down some weather-worn wooden stairs into an adjacent gravel parking out.

Most of the people, with dollars in hand, had driven 65 miles from Las Vegas with the hope of becoming an instant millionaire.

The Powerball lottery -- the "Mother of All Lotteries" in which Arizona participates -- currently stands at a whopping $150 million.

"This is the biggest lottery in the United States," Rose Larsen, owner of Rose's (circa 1933), said Monday. "When we were at 85 million dollars, we thought someone would hit it. Then it went to 110 (million), and I almost fainted when it went to 150 million."

Pamela Johnson, customer-service representative of the Arizona Lottery in Phoenix, said Powerball rose to $150 million on Sunday. It last paid out $28 million to a Minnesota winner on March 21.

In Powerball, a player marks five white numbers out of 45 possibilities on a paper slip, plus one red Powerball number from 45 choices. One can also let the computer choose the numbers in a "quick pick."

Winners either choose to take one lump sum, which after taxes would amount to half of the jackpot, or stretch the winnings out over 20 years to receive the full $150 million.

The next drawing will be at 7:59 p.m. Wednesday. Ticket offices close at 7 p.m. If no one wins, another drawing will be Saturday at the same time.

Jack Morgan, 64, a retired resident of Boulder City, bought $267 of the $1 lottery tickets. He drove down to place picks for himself and 11 of his golfing buddies. They also bought 15 California Lottery tickets.

"It's the idea of playing this versus the casinos," Morgan said. "I was the fifth one in line when they opened at 6 a.m."

Chuck Myers, Rose Larsen's nephew, said people have been lining up at 4 a.m. every morning since Sunday. Most of Rose's Den customers are regular clientele, including truckers passing through on U.S. 93.

Rose's Den is open seven days a week from 6 a.m. until midnight, except the drawing nights of Wednesdays and Saturdays. Then she closes at 7 p.m.

Larsen said the last time someone won a jackpot at her establishment was on Oct. 5, 1996. That's when a Henderson resident took home $8.3 million.

About 20 miles farther south on U.S. 93 is the little hamlet of Dolan Springs, Ariz. No lines here.

Susan Pojmanski and retired Army Capt. Jim Star, proprietors of the Star Country Mini-Mart, are open every day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

"Saturday, we had 1,000 people come through," Pojmanski said. "Anytime it goes around $50 million, it's a big deal. We want everyone to know there are no long waiting lines here."

The Arizona Lottery estimates the odds of winning Powerball at one in 54,979,155. Yet that hasn't seemed to deter Nevadans from driving across the border to buy tickets.

"The only thing you know for sure," Shelton said, "is you will never win if you don't play."

Results of Arizona's Powerball and Lotto and the California Lottery will be posted on Page 2 of the Sun on Thursday.

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