$100M Ticket Still Unclaimed

Only one winning ticket was sold in Friday's Millennium Millions lottery drawing, billed as a one-time drawing with one incredible jackpot. No winner has yet come forward to claim the $100 million prize.

The grand-prize ticket, for matching five numbers plus the Millennium ball, was sold at the Garden Check Cashing Service in Manhattan.

Bruce Unger, the store's co-owner, tells CBS Early Show Co-Anchor Jane Clayson he doesn't know who purchased the winning ticket.

"No, at this point we have no idea, but it's very exciting that we were the people who sold it," Unger said.

He said the winner might be one of the flood of tourists who came to the city for Times Sqaure's New Year's Eve celebration. "We get a lot of tourists who come through and very possibly it was someone from out of town."

The store has sold winning tickets before, but nothing approaching the $100 million bonanza. "We have had a $50,000 winner, but that certainly was the largest we've had besides this one," said Unger.

There were eight second-prize winners, for matching five numbers, of $187,507.

Not only is the Millennium Millions game the highest jackpot in the state lottery's 32-year history, but it happened to be the largest jackpot in the world over New Year's weekend, said Lottery Director Margaret R. DeFrancisco.

"Frankly, this is in response to our customers who say, `We want a mega-jackpot,"' DeFrancisco said. "They love the smaller prizes, but they wanted something big. And what better way to ring in the new millennium?"

The Millennium Millions jackpot easily surpassed the $90-million New York Super Lotto prize won in 1991, the last time a mega-jackpot was offered.

The odds of winning the $100 million jackpot were 53 million to 1, compared to the 18 million to 1 chance for regular Lotto.

And the odds of being struck by lightning? A mere 1.9 million to 1.

A portion of the net revenue generated through the Millennium Millions game will be donated to the state Department of Education.