$1.9M in Powerball tickets sold in RI

(WPRI/AP) -- As the clock ticks towards Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing, hopefuls have been flocking to convenience stores to purchase their tickets.

The record jackpot just keeps rising and is currently estimated at $550 million. A winner taking the cash option would get $360.2 million before taxes.

The numbers are an estimate and could be increased again as the drawing nears.

A spokesperson from the Rhode Island Lottery tells us that as of 9 p.m., $1,978,964 worth of Powerball tickets had been sold in the state so far on Wednesday.

Powerball officials say they now believe there is a 75 percent chance that the winning combination of numbers will be drawn Wednesday night.

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Big Powerball jackpots and other lottery games mean big winnings for state governments. The more tickets sold, the more money the states collect.

We've learned that the 42 states participating in the game have collected a total of $61 billion in this particular jackpot.

Last year, the Rhode Island state government received $378 million from $777 million in total sales.

That amount received made the lottery the third largest source of revenue for Rhode Island government.

The Powerball drawing will be aired live at 10:59 p.m. on WPRI 12.