The higher jackpot was down to a frenzy of late ticket sales, officials said A record Powerball lottery jackpot has swelled to $550m (£344m) ahead of Wednesday's prize draw, officials say.A single winner could take as much as $360m before taxes. But the odds of scooping the top prize have been calculated at one in 175 million.
Tickets were selling at a rate of 130,000 a minute nationwide - about six times the volume from a week ago.
It is the second largest jackpot in history, behind a Mega Millions prize of $656m in March.
The jackpot has already rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner, but Powerball officials say they now believe there is a 75% chance the winning combination will be drawn this time.
'Join the hype'The jackpot has also been boosted by late ticket sales to people who rarely play the lottery.
"I've been thinking about winning this money and what I'd do with it," first-time ticket buyer Pat Powell told the Associated Press in Atlanta, Georgia.
"Let me just join the hype and just do it."
In New York, another player, Nelson Batista, told Reuters news agency that if he won: "Maybe I change my face and my whole body and I make myself more younger."
Forty-two US states, the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands participate in the Powerball lottery.
Earlier this year officials doubled the price of Powerball lottery tickets in January to $2. Despite an initial drop in sales, revenue is reportedly about 35% higher than 2011 figures.
In 2012, the company raised nearly $4bn in sales and it is projected to make $5bn in 2013, reports the Associated Press news agency.
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