CHICAGO — Hundreds of lottery enthusiasts gathered in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood on Wednesday for a chance to win free Powerball tickets. The event was organized by the Illinois Lottery in anticipation of a massive $1.4 billion Powerball drawing, marking one of the largest jackpots in U.S. history.

The Illinois Lottery set up a "Ticket Grab Challenge" at Hyde Park Station & Car Wash, where participants had five seconds inside a wind tunnel machine to catch as many free tickets as possible. Illinois Lottery Director Harold Mays noted, "We had maybe about 50 to 80 people waiting in line even before the event started at 11 o'clock. We still have a line about a block away."

The two-hour event provided over 1,000 free "quick pick" tickets, which are randomly generated numbers. This jackpot, with a cash option of $634.3 million, is the sixth-largest in U.S. lottery history and the fourth-largest in Powerball history. It has grown due to 40 consecutive drawings without a winner since May 31.

Mays expressed enthusiasm about the event, stating, "When jackpots get this high, we look for opportunities to engage with players. We're happy to see when jackpots get this high because it brings in a huge part of the population who we don't normally get to engage with."

While Illinois has not seen a Powerball jackpot winner since 2013, the state has had five secondary billion-dollar winners this year. The Illinois Lottery also highlighted that 40 cents of every dollar spent on Powerball tickets supports K-12 education in the state. Since 1985, the lottery has contributed over $25 billion to education funding.

Mays added, "Illinois Lottery is proud to be in a position to offer this opportunity to players and raise money for education at the same time."

The drawing on Wednesday night offers players across Illinois another chance at the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot and the sixth-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history. Regular Powerball tickets are available at nearly 7,000 retailers statewide for $2 each, with an optional $1 Power Play addition to multiply non-jackpot prizes.