CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — $1.6 billion up for grabs—Powerball fever is here! Neighbors say you have to be in it to win it and reveal what they'd do if they won.
I don't usually play the lotto but with the Powerball jackpot now at $1.6 billion, I couldn't help myself. While in store, I had conversation with other players.
"Too much money… $1.5 billion, for one person to win," Joey Garcia said.
And Joey Garcia may have a point. Financial experts say that $1.6 billion number isn't what a winner actually takes home. After the lump sum and federal taxes a Texas winner could walk away with around $400 to $500 million.
For people like Joey, he'll take what he can get.
"I'll be glad to win a million dollars," Garcia said.
Others say where you play matters, like Diablo Ramirez, who says he plays at this store on purpose.
"I guess 'cause it says it's lucky," Diablo Ramirez said.
Hoping the "luck" might rub off.
While I was inside, Sandy Posada walked in, on the phone, asking her sister for a set of extra lucky numbers. But family advice wasn't her only strategy.
"I used ChatGPT," Sandy Posada said.
Curious, I asked if AI found any patterns to boost her odds.
"It said there are no specific patterns, but there are similarities," Posada said.
And if anyone here does hit the jackpot Texas law allows winners to remain anonymous by claiming their prize through a trust or legal entity.
Experts also recommend winners immediately hire a financial advisor and attorney. A study from Forbes says up to 70% of lottery winners eventually face bankruptcy often due to overspending, pressure from others, or lack of planning.
Dreams big and small—helping family, paying debt, living large. Now it's your turn: what would you do with $1.6 billion?
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