Mega Millions Lottery Drawn; Marylanders Wait For Winner Of $640M Jackpot
PARKVILLE, Md. (WJZ)-- What would you do with $640 million? That's the staggering pot of cash in Friday night's Mega Millions lottery drawing. The winning numbers are 46 23 38 4 2 23.
Andrea Fujii explains the long odds of winning haven't slowed down ticket sales in Maryland.
It could be a while before we know who-- if anyone-- won the jackpot. And even though someone is 50 times more likely to get struck by lightning than win, but Marylanders are still taking their chances.
The Parkville Soda Pop Shop's lotto machine has never spewed out this many lottery tickets.
"It's been insane, like so many tickets are being sold. It's madness!" cashier Dan Bauman said.
But then again this is the largest lottery payout in the world.
"It's 640 million! Why not?"
That makes the odds of winning the jackpot one in 176 million.
"Wagering a small amount of money against very long odds for a very large prize," Stephen Martino, director of the Maryland Lottery, said.
The winner can choose from a lump sum of $307.2 million after taxes or $16.3 million a year after taxes for the next 26 years.
And players already have a list of what they'd do with their winnings.
"I'd like to buy my own house, my own car. I'd like to have a nice big fishing yacht."
"I'd first buy a new car."
"Pay off all the bills, help my kids."
"I want to help the people who don't have too much money."
Retailers are making out, too. They get 5 percent of every ticket sold.
And the store that sells the winning ticket gets an extra $100,000.
From long-time players...
"I got five free yesterday. I gotta get them."
...To first-time buyers, nearly everyone is rolling the dice.
"Somebody's gotta win, so why not take a chance. Why not you?"
If no one hits jackpot Friday night, the new pot is expected to grow close to a billion dollars. The next drawing is Tuesday.
