In 2009 Floridians will have a chance to compete for big cash with people from 29 other states. Powerball tickets go on sale in Florida on January 4th.

The minimum jackpot in the multi-state game is 20 million dollars. The Florida Lottery’s low jackpot is 3 million.

This year, lotto sales are down 125 million dollars statewide.

Florida Lotto Spokeswoman Jackie Barreiros says Powerball could help fill the void left by declining sales.

“Players tend to gravitate to the new games. So we do expect more players to gravitate to the game initially. I think players will then start to choose what they like best, which is our goal, to offer choices, but I think overall it will be driven by the jackpot. If Powerball has a high jackpot and Lotto has a lower one, more people will play Powerball, and the opposite maybe true as well.”

The Powerball drawings will be held in Orlando and televised at 9:59 Central Time nightly starting January 7th. The Florida Lotto drawings will be moved to 10:15.