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Alex Horton
Generalist journalist covering national and last-minute news
Stop somewhere – a coffee, at your grocery store or at your desk – and listen.
Chances are that someone within earshot is currently developing a plan to buy mansions and yachts for as long as a city block. But of course, many will surely explain that they are going to unlock important funds for charity after winning what lottery officials call the biggest lottery jackpot in history.
Tuesday's Mega Millions draw will bring at least $ 1.6 billion to winning jackpot ticket holders, if any, after last Friday's record draw, with no six-issue tickets. This number is an "unknown territory" for Mega Millions, said officials of the lottery.
And the odds increase that a winner or winners will emerge after calling numbers.
In the meantime, lottery officials estimate that 75% of all number combinations will be purchased, said Maryland Lottery and Gaming spokeswoman Carole Gentry at the Washington Post. There are 302,575,350 possible combinations – which are the chances of winning.
This fever has hit the country. The sale of Virginia Lottery's plans after Friday's draw by Tuesday's draw will cost $ 19 million, said Lottery spokeswoman Jennifer Mullen. In the peak sales period, no less than 12,700 tickets will be sold by the minute, Mullen said.
Thursday, before the last draw in California, players were buying 200 banknotes per second, the Associated Press reported.
What is my gain if I win?
The cash option is estimated at around $ 905 million if a winner chooses to receive a single lump sum payment instead of an annual payment over 30 years, according to Mega Millions officials.
But that's before taxes. You will get about half of that amount after state taxes and federal taxes weigh heavily on your earnings, reported the AP. L & # 39; directory payments would generate a higher gain over time, but you would have to earn enough money to buy, for example, a struggling NFL team.
[You’ve won the Mega Millions jackpot! Time to hide.]
Is it me, or are lottery jackpots huge these days?
It's not just you. The lottery officials rely on huge jackpots to attract players who would normally avoid participation. So they made two big changes last October. They doubled the price of tickets to $ 2 – and modified the formula to make it easier to win smaller prizes but more difficult to win the jackpot.
Here is how Mega Millions worked: players chose five numbers from 1 to 75 and a mega from 1 to 15. The odds of winning the first prize were 1 in 258,890,850.
Since Mega Millions changed the formula, players now choose five numbers ranging from 1 to 70 and a mega number from 1 to 25. The odds of winning the jackpot are now 1 in 302,575,350.
In other words, reducing the number of balls for the first five numbers increases the chances of winning a smaller prize. But increasing the number of Mega Balls makes it more difficult to win the jackpot. (You always win the jackpot by matching the six winning numbers in a draw.)
Powerball made similar changes to its rules in 2015. This game itself is currently at a monster jackpot, although small compared to Mega Millions, with $ 620 million ahead of the draw on Wednesday. .
Do people think that they will win?
They do.
"I think I've already won," Rauch told Reuters, "I believe in the law of attraction, so what is supposed to be going already is."
Others are already reading experts on managing such a huge and public price. "I would build a business and become my own business," said Gregory Baron in New York.
And even the apparent fatalists go to the convenience store to try their luck.
Hank Kattan is 75 years old. He does not expect to win at all. And even.
"I will never win, but you have to try it," he told Reuters. "I would like to change my lifestyle."
Amy B Wang and J. Freedom du Lac contributed to this report.
Read more:
He returned the orange juice to save money – and raised a winning ticket of $ 315 million
The winner of a $ 560 million Powerball jackpot can keep the money and its secret, according to the rules of the judge
Perspective | The excess of the 80s fueled the mania of millions of men today
She bought her first lottery ticket on her 18th birthday – and she is now ready for life
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