Long line at Brook Park gas station for Powerball tickets as jackpot reaches $550 million

BROOK PARK, Ohio - Willy Wonka's "Golden Ticket" had nothing on the Powerball Lottery on Wednesday as thousands, if not millions, made a mad dash to gas stations and stores, all to lay their hand on what each person walked away from the register saying was the, "winning ticket."

At the Brook Park Shell gas station on Snow Road and Smith Road, which by the way has produced a winning ticket more than a few times, the line to play Powerball seemed never ending.

"Very exhausting," is how employees at the station described the rush and one-after-another, those tickets kept printing. There was also an air of confidence as customers, like Gina Walker, finished playing their numbers.

"They might as well go home because I've got the winning ticket," Walker said. She walked away with about $150 worth in tickets.

"I'm playing for our pool at work so hopefully we'll win so we can leave our job," Walker said.

She wasn't the only one looking to win big. But others were hoping only one ticket would do the trick.

"I rarely play the lottery so, but about half a million dollars, friends at work were talking about it, so I said, 'You know what? Let me go with a hunch and see what happens,'" Joe Stills said.

What would they do with the money if they win?

"I'd financially set myself up nicely and finish paying off my student loans," Stills said.

One ticket is all you need for a shot at millions, but not everyone was sold. Stephen Hardy went into the station's convenience store to buy some beers instead.

"I just heard on the radio, you've got a better chance to get crushed by a vending machine than you do to win tonight."

Showing us his crisp, green bill with Benjamin Franklin printed on the front, he said, "I got a lot of dollars to play and I'm not even going to pay one."

Lottery officials said there is a 75 percent chance a winning number combination would be drawn Wednesday night.