The Powerball jackpot is $1 billion, with the next drawing on Saturday night.

The manager of a 7-Eleven on Lake Avenue in St. James told Newsday on Saturday morning "sales [have been] going up since the prize money went up."

K.P. Singh said "roughly 30 customers had bought Powerball tickets between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m."

One ticket buyer, retired social worker Charles Gluck, said he'd gone to the 7-Eleven to get a newspaper but bought a Powerball ticket when he "found out how high the jackpot was."

Gluck, 74, of St. James, said he "infrequently" played the lottery and would opt for the lump sum payout if he won.

Here's what casual, occasional players of Powerball need to know:

Why is the jackpot so big?

No one picked the winning five numbers and the Powerball on Wednesday, when the jack

See Full Page