Lottery officials give Tri-Staters free chance to win that $500 million | News

EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE)- $500 million is a powerful incentive to buy a Powerball ticket this week but some Tri-Staters got their chance at the millions for free.

The Hoosier Lottery was at Chuckles gas station on Virginia and Fares Wednesday morning handing out 500 free Powerball tickets.

At 5:15 a.m., people were already in line.

Folks with the Hoosier Lottery started handing out the tickets at 6 o'clock on the dot.

Any customer that entered the gas station after that time got a ticket whether they asked for one or not.

The tickets went pretty fast. Around 100 were still left at 7 a.m. and they were gone shortly after that.

The Hoosier Lottery tells me when the pot gets this big it's hard not to get excited about it.

"It creates a lot of excitement. Everywhere I go there's a lot of buzz," said Skip Keating, Hoosier Lottery. "Our retailers there's a lot of buzz. A lot of factories and offices they'll go in pools. It creates a lot of excitement. It's a lot of fun, it's really a lot of fun."

The drawing will take place at 9:59 p.m. central time.

The last time you can buy a ticket is 9 p.m.

Copyright 2012 WFIE. All rights reserved.