Numbers Announced For Mega Millions Jackpot Of $312 Million
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mega Millions fever was as hot across the Tri-State with the jackpot swelling to the sixth-highest in the drawing's history.
Ticket buyers lined up across New York for a chance to take home the estimated $312 million jackpot. The numbers announced at 11 p.m. Friday night were 22, 24, 31, 52, 54, The Mega Ball number was 4.
Earlier Friday, Manhattan resident Paul Kravitz thought it might be his lucky day.
"This morning I woke up, I said 'I'm coming to this store and I'm buying,'" he told CBS 2's Mark Morgan. "Just having a decent morning and that doesn't happen that often."
"Today might be the day. It might be my lucky day. If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck. So today just might be my day," Harlem's Willie Lebeau told CBS 2's Sean Hennessey.
1010 WINS' John Montone reports: What would you do with $312 million?
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Asked if he's feeling lucky, Mike Gritspies laughed: "Maybe yes, maybe no, I don't know."
The chance at the jackpot of a lifetime drove many to take a morning work break and try their luck, but one woman took some spousal advice to heart.
"Well actually my husband told me the Mega Millions pot is $312 million so I said 'let me get in there. You got to be in it to win it'," said Karen Mohammed of Brooklyn.
Asked if it was one of the few times she listened to her husband, "Yes and I hope that I win," she laughed.
Money is a universal language so naturally two women from Italy were well aware of the massive Mega Millions jackpot. They walked out of Penn Station with a stack of tickets and a dream saying that if they won the money they'd donate some first and then travel the world.
A few men, who work the overnight shift, told 1010 WINS' John Montone that they don't talk of mansions or private jets -- all they want is a night of solid sleep and spending time with their families.
A sudden influence of $312 million would allow them to say goodbye to those long nights.
WCBS 880's Ginny Kosola with ticket buyers in Sunnyside, Queens
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"I would stop working, I'd save some, spend some and share some," one man said.
Danny Young, said the hours are taking their toll. "You're getting home at six o'clock, eating, saying hello to the kids and going back to bed, that's no life," he said.
If you the Mega Millions jackpot, what would you do with the money? Let us know below!
Officials said a rise in sales had helped bring Friday's Mega Millions jackpot from $304 million to the current $312 million.
If no ticket matches all six numbers in Friday's drawing, the estimated jackpot may reach the $390 million range for the March 29 drawing.
The odds of winning the jackpot are approximately one in 176 million. The winner will be able to choose between receiving the full jackpot in 26 annual payments of about $12 million, or a one-time cash option of about $198.2 million.
On Tuesday, nine people came close to claiming the then-$244 million jackpot. Second-place winning tickets were purchased in the Bronx, Manhattan, Nassau, Westchester and Rockland counties.
In January, players in Idaho and Washington won the second largest Mega Millions jackpot ever. Players in New Jersey and Georgia won the highest-ever Mega Millions jackpot, $390 million, in 2007.
MegaMillions is played in 42 states--New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are among them.
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