Powerball's giant jackpot has lottery players dreaming big

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The Powerball jackpot keeps on growing and that has a lot of people dreaming big.

"There's still a tiny chance that I could win!" said Monica Caron, a Powerball player.

It's a dream, but how much is it really worth to you? For some people it's $10 or $20. And for others, it's worth even more than that.

"People spending $400, $150 on quick picks," said Tahisha Rivero, a Powerball player.

Workplace pools are forming across the nation, amid the widespread belief that buying large numbers of tickets will somehow make the game more winnable.

But even if you buy 1,000 tickets, your chances of winning are 1 in 292,000. If you buy 20,000 tickets your chances get a little better, at 1 in 14,600. But that still means you still have a 99.993% chance of losing.

That's even after spending $40,000 on Powerball.

"My advice is, have a sense of humor, keep it reasonable," said Harris Stratyner, Ph.D. Clinical Psychiatrist.

Dr. Stratyner says it's easy to understand why people become irrational with big jackpots.

"You know you can.. Lightning, you know," Dr. Stratyner said.

And then there's always somebody who beats the odds. Richard Lustig has won the Florida lottery seven times-over.

"I live in Orlando, Florida, which is the lightning capital of the world. And yet I haven't been struck by lightning yet. But I've won seven lottery game grand prizes. You figure it out," Lustig said.