CARY – People throughout McHenry County lined up at gas stations and convenience stores Wednesday for a chance to win the $550 million Powerball jackpot, even against the slimmest of odds.

The drawing was shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday and it likely will be today before it’s known whether someone from Illinois or the 41 other Powerball-licensed states can claim the prize.

Even the idea of having $550 million – roughly $360 million in cash after taxes – drove area residents to stores. Cashiers at the Thorntons gas station in Cary were busy doling out lottery tickets to lines of people Wednesday afternoon.