New Yorkers are dropping thousands of dollars at a time on Powerball tickets at a small tobacco shop in Midtown — because they think it’s got a lucky streak.
There’s been a steady flow of customers pouring into Manhattan Tobacco on 9th Avenue since the Powerball jumped to $1.5 billion, the highest jackpot ever.
“People who have never played before, now they play,” said Iskander Shrhan, a 40-year-old store employee. “Some people don’t even know how to fill out the ticket or they don’t even know there’s a thing such as quick picks.”
At 7:30 a.m., a hopeful New Yorker bought $1,000 worth of tickets.
“I wasn’t really surprised because yesterday somebody came by and bought $2,500 of tickets,” Shrhan said.
He added that there’s been about six times more customers coming in for a shot at becoming a billionaire.
“A lot of people come here because they think we are lucky,” he said.
Inside the store, there are multiple signs showing various winning tickets ranging from $800 to $4,000.