Powerball players dream of a green Christmas

Lines at some vendors stretch around corners

Ticket sales were brisk Monday in Manchester, New Hampshire.

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VIDEO With an estimated $280 million jackpot up for grabs Christmas Day in the Powerball lottery, people across the U.S. are dreaming of a green Christmas. KUSA's Cindy Pena reports (December 25) PLAY VIDEO RELATED • Interactive: Participating Powerball states

GREENWICH, Connecticut (CNN) -- With an estimated $280 million jackpot up for grabs Wednesday in the Powerball lottery, people across the country were dreaming of a green Christmas.

The jackpot has been building since before Halloween, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs Powerball.

People lined up in stores across the 23 states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Powerball is played. The lines often stretched outside store doors and even around corners.

Despite the long waits, one shop owner in Greenwich said his customers were showing Christmas spirit.

People "are so civil and disciplined," he said.

Millionaire hopefuls were plunking down large sums of cash -- sometimes hundreds of dollars -- in pursuit of the jackpot. But even buying multiple tickets would do little to increase the odds of winning, which lottery officials estimated at 1 in 120 million.

"So far, I spent $45, and I'm here to spend another $40," said one woman who drove to Connecticut from New York to play Powerball. She also revealed her strategy: buying tickets at multiple stores.

But "this is my favorite store, here," she said. "I always come here to play."

The object of the lottery is to match five numbers, plus a sixth "powerball" number, with the numbers that will be drawn Wednesday at 10:59 p.m. EST.

Winners can choose between payments spread out over 29 years or a single cash payout estimated at $151.4 million.

But according to lottery officials, everybody wins.

"There's a lot of worthwhile state projects that are funded by the Powerball," said Joe Mahoney, a spokesman for the Multi-State Lottery Association. In Minnesota, for instance, lottery proceeds go to environmental causes; Pennsylvania funds programs to help seniors; and educational causes are funded in New Mexico and South Carolina.

On average, about 30 percent of lottery proceeds go to the designated causes, Mahoney said.

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