Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012

CHICAGO (AP) -- He may be unemployed, but that didn't keep a Chicago man from spending $12 today for a half dozen chances at the second-biggest lottery payout in U.S. history. The jackpot for tonight's Powerball drawing now stands at $550 million.

Lamar Fallie says if he wins, he'll take care of his church, make big donations to schools, and then -- as he put it -- "retire from being unemployed."

Lottery officials say tickets are selling at a rate of 130,000 a minute nationwide. That's about six times the volume from a week ago. So, the jackpot could climb even higher before tonight's drawing.

There have been 16 consecutive drawings without a winner, but Powerball officials say they now think there's a 75 percent chance someone will hold the winning numbers this time.

Some experts say if one ticket hits the right numbers, chances are good that there will be other winners as well.

(Copyright 2012, The Associated Press)