Lottery players, take heart. Officials say it’s increasingly likely that someone will win the $900 million Powerball jackpot.

People across the country dreamed about what they’d do with the largest lottery prize in U.S. history – vacationing in warm climates, sharing with family members – and could still be thinking big in the coming days. If no one matches all the numbers Saturday night, the next drawing is expected to soar to $1.3 billion.

Pastora Garcia, right, sells Powerball tickets to a customer Saturday in Miami. Officials say it’s increasingly likely that someone will win the $900 million Powerball jackpot. The Associated Press

Anita Goodwin from Hammond, Ind., buys Powerball tickets from Biren Shah in Chicago as the multi-state jackpot reached $800 million Friday. With ticket sales doubling previous records, the odds are growing that someone will win Saturday’s record jackpot, but if no one wins the top prize, the next drawing is expected to soar past $1 billion. The Associated Press

People line up to buy Powerball tickets Saturday at Kavanagh Liquor in San Lorenzo, Calif. The multi-state Powerball jackpot soared to $900 million Saturday. The Associated Press

The United States saw sales of $277 million on Friday alone and more than $400 million were expected Saturday, according to Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery.

The frenzy was real Saturday afternoon at a newsstand in New York City’s Penn Station, where cashier Setara Begum said she was exhausted from taking about $10,000 worth of orders that ranged from a single $2 ticket to one man buying $500 worth of tickets.

“I’m going crazy! I can’t take it anymore!” she said, burying her face in her hands but giggling uncontrollably as she turned to a line of customers. Another employee stood at the newsstand’s entrance offering $10 worth of tickets on one page.

Scott Edwards was making the most of his chances, playing in three different groups of eight New Yorkers, a $20 buy-in per person per group.

“I guess eight is going to break the money down a lot,” said the 55-year-old, whose groups include Madison Square Garden, where he monitors security for deliveries, as well as the truck drivers delivering those goods and one in his Brooklyn neighborhood.

But for all the excitement, Grief urged those hoping to hit it big not to spend more than they can afford.

“We’re very concerned about people playing responsibly and not overspending,” he said. “It only takes one ticket to win.”

Since Nov. 4, the Powerball jackpot has grown from its $40 million starting point as no one has won the jackpot.

This kind of huge jackpot was just what officials with the Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs the Powerball game, hoped for last fall when they changed the odds of matching all the Powerball numbers, from about one in 175 million to one in 292.2 million.

By making it harder to win a jackpot, the tougher odds made the ever-larger prizes inevitable.

Anndrea Smith, 30, of Omaha, Nebraska, has already spent more than she usually does on Powerball tickets.

“I bought four yesterday, and I usually never buy any,” said Smith, manager of Bucky’s gas station and convenience store in northwest Omaha. She’s not alone, saying the store sold “about $5,000 worth of tickets yesterday. Usually on a Friday, we might sell $1,200 worth.”

If she wins, her first purchase will be “a warm vacation,” she said, as the temperature outside hovered in the single digits. “I’d share with family, too.”

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