--- description: Thousands of Canadians are traveling to the United States to buy lottery tickets in advance of Wednesday's record Powerball drawing title: Canadians Flock to U.S. to Try Their Luck at Record Powerball image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5d390799a315d95/698878b70a4a22d3139c7db8/powerball-lottery-record.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Lottery](/tag/lottery/) ## Lottery Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Canadians Flock to U.S. to Try Their Luck at Record Powerball  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jan 12, 2016 2:51 PM CUT  A sign showing a Powerball prize of $999 million, the largest jackpot winnings that the Powerball sign can display, with the actual Powerball jackpot estimated at $1.3 billion, outside a deli in Washington, DC on Jan 11. A sign showing a Powerball prize of $999 million, the largest jackpot winnings that the Powerball sign can display, with the actual Powerball jackpot estimated at $1.3 billion, outside a deli in Washington, DC on Jan 11.Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jan 12, 2016 2:51 PM CUT Thousands of Canadians are t[raveling to the U.S. to buy lottery tickets](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/powerball-record-jackpot-attracts-canadians-to-united-states/ "undefined") in advance of Wednesday’s [record Powerball](http://time.com/4175332/powerball-jackpot-lottery-2/ "undefined") drawing. The purchase is easy for the millions of Canadians who live near the border with the U.S., and lottery rules do not prevent a person who is not a U.S. citizen from claiming the prize (though they may be subject to additional taxes), according to a CBS News report. “The Canadians — they’re coming like crazy here for the lotto,” Alex Traverso of the California State Lottery told CBS. “You don’t have to be a U.S. citizen to buy a Powerball ticket, as long as you’re buying your tickets at an authorized retail location, then that’s fine with us.” The Powerball lottery pool has reached [$1.4 billion](http://www.people.com/article/powerball-jackpot-rises-twitter "undefined"), the largest total ever. \[[_CBS_](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/powerball-record-jackpot-attracts-canadians-to-united-states/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4176851/record-powerball-canadians/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4176851/record-powerball-canadians/"},"headline":"Canadians Flock to U.S. to Try Their Luck at Record Powerball","datePublished":"2016-01-12T14:51:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:59:42.293Z","description":"Lottery rules do not prevent a person who is not a U.S. citizen from claiming the prize","url":"https://time.com/4176851/record-powerball-canadians/","keywords":["Lottery"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5d390799a315d95/698878b70a4a22d3139c7db8/powerball-lottery-record.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5d390799a315d95/698878b70a4a22d3139c7db8/powerball-lottery-record.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"powerball lottery Canadians","caption":"powerball lottery Canadians","creditText":"Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/lottery/","name":"Lottery"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4176851/record-powerball-canadians/","name":"Canadians Flock to U.S. to Try Their Luck at Record Powerball"}}]}] ```