Feeling lucky, Hmong merchants dip a toe in the Powerball pool
The vendors at St. Paul's Hmong Village shopping center typically aren't lottery players. But a $1.5 billion jackpot is a powerful lure and more than 60 merchants have pooled their money to buy Powerball tickets for tonight's drawing.
Some have big plans for how they'd share it.
"Everyone's talking about Powerball," said Shong Yang, the shopping center's president. "If I hit the big money, I'm going to open a bank for the Hmong community, Hmong people in the United States, and also part of that, helping my poor Hmong people back in Laos."
Wa-Neng Yang put in $20 for a chance at splitting the jackpot. "I earn just enough to get to tomorrow, and get by with what I have each day," she said. "That's why I thought maybe if joined the lottery pool, maybe other people's luck will help pull me up in life."
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Anna Thao, a mother of five, said she'd never bought a lottery ticket until now but put some money into the pool. She said she wasn't sure what she'd do if she won but she dreams "to build a school for my community."
Powerball is fueling a lot of dreams this week, despite the long odds — one in 292 million — of winning it all. The prize has climbed to an estimated $1.5 billion, the largest lottery jackpot in the world. The prize for the twice-weekly game started at $40 million on Nov. 4.
No one has matched all six Powerball numbers since then, so the prize kept growing. Lottery officials expect at least 80 percent of the 292.2 million number combinations will be purchased before the Wednesday night drawing.
Paying debts and buying a home and car led Amanda Lor to toss a little into the Hmong Village pool. "I have so many dreams and goals," the small business owner and interpreter said, adding, "I want to build something for the Hmong community so that way it could be something that they can feel pride."
Sai Lee's plans were even grander. "If we win this big Powerball, my portion, I am planning to save the world, to help the poor people, especially for the children," said Lee, a pastor and social worker for the Ramsey County human services office.
Business owner Yia Michael Thao didn't believe in Powerball. "But I did, I bought it this round of time, because that $1 billion, if I just have a little chance of that, it's better than nothing."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
10 previous highest jackpots and the winners' home states
1) $656.0 million, Mega Millions, March 30, 2012 (three tickets, from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland)
2) $636 million, Mega Millions, Dec. 17, 2013, (two tickets, from California and Georgia)
3) $590.5 million, Powerball, May 18, 2013 (one ticket, from Florida)
4) $587.5 million, Powerball, Nov. 28, 2012 (two tickets, from Arizona and Missouri)
5) $564.1 million, Powerball, Feb. 11, 2015 (three tickets, from North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Texas)
6) $448.4 million, Powerball, Aug. 7, 2013, (three tickets, one from Minnesota and two from New Jersey)
7) $425.3 million, Powerball, Feb. 19, 2014 (one ticket, from California)
8) $414 million, Mega Millions, March 18, 2014, (two tickets, from Florida and Maryland)
9) $399.4 million, Powerball, Sept. 18, 2013, (one ticket, from South Carolina)
10) $390.0 million, Mega Millions, March 6, 2007 (two tickets, from Georgia and New Jersey)
Source: Associated Press