Powerball Lottery: Meet the Man Who Will Make Someone a Billionaire
— -- Sam Arlen will be the center of attention when he draws the winning Powerball numbers on Wednesday.
The Georgia native has been working as a Powerball host since 2012. This is his first billion-dollar draw.
"It's incredibly exciting," Arlen told ABC News. "I feel just grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of this certainly national, almost international, energy around this game."
Arlen first got involved in lottery drawing when a teacher suggested he try out for a host spot for the Florida state lottery in 2006.
"I remember thinking to myself during the audition, 'What am I doing here?' I trained more on the news side. I don't know if I really have this whole game show thing down,'" Arlen said.
He briefly took a break from his lottery hosting gig to start law school at Florida State University, his alma mater.
After one year he returned to the state lottery. At roughly the same time, the Powerball drawing moved from a studio in Orlando to one in his adopted hometown of Tallahassee. Arlen was soon asked to meet with the Powerball team.
"I just kept thinking to myself, 'I'm going to do that one day, I'm going to do that one day,'" he said.
Arlen, 32, has been working for Powerball while also having a "day job" as an attorney at a company that helps teach law school students how to pass the bar exam.
He shares the task of drawing the winning numbers every Wednesday and Saturday nights with another colleague. This Saturday, it will just be him.
"I feel like it's an amazing opportunity," Arlen said of his hosting job. "It's awesome. On some level, I feel like I'm channeling some of that excitement and energy."
"There's just this happiness, this hope that 'It could be me! It could be me!'" he added.
