By Brenna R. Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Chris Barnett of Springdale bet $2 on tonight's $250 million Powerball jackpot. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

COVINGTON - Get in line.

If you want any chance in the one in 120 million odds of winning $250 million from Powerball tonight, you'd better hit the nearest Kentucky or Indiana convenience store early.

"It'll be crazy in here," said Donna Owens, a clerk at AmeriStop Express, Fifth and Philadelphia streets in Covington.

The gas station just off Interstates 71/75 - Northern Kentucky's busiest lottery outlet, lottery officials say - called in extra workers to deal with today's expected rush.

Today's Powerball jackpot is the fourth largest in history. (The record jackpot of $314 million was hit Dec. 25, 2002, in West Virginia.)

Tuesday, AmeriStop Express was filled with Ohio residents who can't buy Powerball tickets at home. It's played in 24 states; Washington, D.C.; and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For Chris Barnett of Springdale, a chance at $250 million was too much to pass up. He bought his first-ever lottery tickets.

"You never know. ... It's a dream," Barnett said, with two quick-picks in hand. "It's the only way I'm going to get rich."

The winner gets the option of taking a cash payout of $141 million or getting an $8.3 million check each year for 30 years. That's about $694,444 per month, $160,256 per week, $22,831 per day.

John Pigott already has plans for that money.

If one of the Loveland man's five tickets hits the jackpot, he would pay off his new house, buy a new car, get his girlfriend an engagement ring and give half to his parents, Pigott said while taking a break from work Tuesday to get tickets.

Before buying his tickets for tonight's drawing, Ken Rehm checked his 40 tickets from Saturday's drawing in AmeriStop's electronic checker. His $10 winnings were quickly added to the $40 he planned to spend on tonight's drawing.

"It's bad luck not to roll it over," said Rehm, who drove in from his White Oak home.

In her three years at the AmeriStop, Owens has seen customers spend $500 on Powerball tickets. "If nobody hits it," she said, "it'll be even crazier in here."

This jackpot began May 10, then rolled over through 17 drawings to create tonight's $250 million jackpot. Sunday and Monday, $1.5 million worth of Powerball tickets was purchased in Kentucky.

Powerball's biggest jackpots

1. $314,924,354, December 2002 - Jack Whittaker, Hurricane, W.Va.

2. $295,700,932, July 1998 - The Lucky 13, Columbus

3. $294,964,114, August 2001 - Sheryl Hanuman, Minneapolis, Minn.; Michael and Kathleen Kearney, Export, Pa.; David Edwards, Ashland, Ky.; R. Erwin Wales, Bar Mills, Maine

4. $250,000,000 - Drawing tonight

5. $194,462,540, May 1998 - Frank and Shirley Capaci, Streamwood, Ill.

Local Powerball winners

Lyndsey Mayberry, Villa Hills, December 2002 - $100,000

Thomas Marksberry, Florence, January 2002 - $5,000

E-mail bkelly@enquirer.com