You may have noticed that neither of the winning tickets from the Powerball lottery this week were bought in Florida. Nor in New York or Montana or Texas or Vermont or South Dakota or…
Had either of the two winners of $587.5 million bought their tickets in Florida, there would be a chance that they — both the winners and the tickets — would now be at sea, on a Caribbean cruise like no other Caribbean cruise.
Instead, they just missed the boat…
not literally, of course.
As in every corner of the 42 states (also Virgin Islands and District of Columbia) where Powerball is played, there was a rush to buy in Florida — from people about to leave on cruise ships. Actually, some were disembarking specifically to spend $2 on a ticket, or $2 a ticket for as many chances as they wanted.
The lure of such an obscene lottery prize always fuels the frenzy, even though the chance of winning the Jackpot alone diminishes as more tickets are sold. These winners will carve the prize into $293-million shares, before taxes.
One store manager in Cocoa Beach believed he may have sold a Powerball ticket to every cruise passenger. He was that busy.
Kind of gives an entirely new meaning to "shore excursion" doesn't it?
Carnival Victory
4 nights
March 14, 2013
Miami (return): Key West, Cozumel
Inside: $259
Cost per day: $64
www.carnival.com