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NEW YORK (Reuters) – 24-year-old Gregory Baron and 27-year-old Ben Nelson bought two tickets to the Mega Millions jackpot Monday, hoping for a record 1.6 billion dollars and be among the richest in the world.
Panels display jackpots from Powerball's Tuesday and Wednesday Mega Millions lottery draws in New York, USA, October 22, 2018. REUTERS / Brendan McDermid
"I would create a business and become my own business," Baron told the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan, adding that he would also repay his student loans and the mortgage of his parents and would make donations to charities where he won.
"I would like to set myself up, but keep working so that I do not collapse into nothingness," Baron said.
Lottery players have 1 in 303 million chance of winning the Mega Millions draw on Tuesday night. In comparison, the odds of being killed by a shark are 1 in 3.7 million in a lifetime, according to the International Shark Attack File.
The Mega Millions website was briefly crushed Monday before the draw, due to an increase in the number of visitors, said a spokeswoman for the Lotteries and Gaming Control Agency. from Maryland, which administers the website.
Mega Millions set a world record for lottery jackpots after the absence of winning numbers for the $ 1 billion Friday prize. The previous record was a $ 1.586 billion jackpot for a powerball draw in 2016.
About 280 million tickets were sold for the Friday draw, and about 60% of all winning number combinations are covered, said Seth Elkin, spokesperson for the agency.
Tickets sold for Tuesday's draw should cover 75 percent of all possible combinations, he said.
If a player touches all six numbers to win the jackpot, he can opt for an immediate cash payment of $ 904 million or receive the $ 1.6 billion prize over 29 years.
Nelson, a Manhattan-based post-production manager, said that if he won the jackpot, he would travel and buy a farm in northern California where he would raise Bernese Mountain Dogs.
"You would bring out all that is boring early, so I would do a feature film," he added.
& # 39; GIVE A BLOW OF FIRE & # 39;
In Chicago, a crowded newsstand in the city's Ogilvie Transportation Center was unable to post the record amount, as $ 999 million was the highest figure its electronic panel could display .
"It's only two dollars. I'm spending my coffee money on that today, "said Rita Gomez, a 51-year-old casual lotto player who bought tickets for herself, her sister, and her two friends at a convenience store in Chicago. .
Wednesday's Powerball Lottery Prize raises to $ 620 million, making it the fifth-largest jackpot in US history, after no one has won all six numbers in Saturday's draw . The cash payment is estimated at $ 354.3 million.
If there is more than one winner, the jackpot will be split proportionately, as was the case in 2012 with a $ 656 million Mega Millions jackpot, said a lottery official.
Mega Millions tickets are sold in 44 US states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. Several states allow online ticket purchases, but prohibit purchases outside the states and abroad.
Both lottery jackpots have been increased recently by rule changes that have reduced the odds of winning. The chances of winning Mega Millions were reduced by 1 in 259 million a year ago to generate higher prices.
"I will never win, but you have to try," said Hank Kattan, 75, in Manhattan. "I would like to change my lifestyle."
Reportage of Gina Cherelus; Rich McKay in Atlanta, Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago; Edited by Paul Simao
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