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Do you have your lucky numbers ready for the Mega Millions jackpot? Mercer Morrison of Buzz60 has history.
Buzz60
A customer shows her the Mega Millions lottery tickets she bought from a retailer in Washington, DC, October 20, 2018. (Photo: ERIK S. LESSER, EPA-EFE)
LOS ANGELES – Non-stop. Intense. Crazy.
These are some of the words that convenience store workers have used to describe their activities over the past week – all because of the record $ 1.6 billion jackpot, the biggest lottery lottery in the industry. American history.
While crowds generally increase with the increase in the jackpot, several workers and ticket buyers told USA TODAY that it had drawn the longest lines.
In a Chevron near the Los Angeles International Airport, workers said the waiting line had crossed the store Friday with about 700 people buying Mega Million tickets. An employee stated that the line did not stop from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm, almost all of his shift.
The hype led Brittany Hadley, 31, of Ventura, Calif., To buy a lotto ticket for the first time on Sunday. Her uncle has been playing lotto for as long as she can remember, but the biggest jackpot of all time has led the beach club worker to get herself two Mega Million tickets after a hike.
"Everyone has talked about it," said Hadley. "So I thought," Oh, why not try? " We never know."
A nearby Shell station sold so many Mega Million tickets over the past week that it ran out of paper for the lottery. At around 2:00 pm Sunday supervisor Tracy Turner had to ask for more. Fortunately for lotto players, a lottery employee usually delivers the same day, she said.
"Mega Millions has already entered the historic territory, but it's really amazing to think that the jackpot has reached a world record," said Gordon Medenica, senior director of the Mega Millions group and Maryland's director of Lottery and Gaming, statement. "It's hard to exaggerate how exciting it is – but now, it's really fun."
Medenica told the Washington Post that nearly 57% of the possible combinations had been bought before the draw on Friday and that it was an "extremely pleasant surprise", there was no winner among the 280 million tickets.
"That means the chances were [a winning ticket] would have been chosen, but that was not the case, "said Medenica. "It's a really unexplored territory for us all."
According to sales forecasts, 75% of the 302 million possible combinations will be chosen for Tuesday's draw, the Associated Press reported Sunday.
"It is possible that no one wins again. But it's hard to understand, "said Carole Gentry, spokeswoman for Maryland Lottery and Gaming.
& # 39; The ability to dream & # 39 ;: The numbers behind Mega Millions: Why lottery jackpots are getting bigger
Claudia Diaz, a liquor saleswoman, said it was the hottest lotto buying trend since she started working at liquor stores and convenience stores 10 years ago. Last Wednesday, in a period of three and a half hours, she said that 50 people had bought Mega Million tickets at the store located in Los Angeles, across from a grocery store.
In the hour before the 19 pm Puts TVP sales that night, a person bought a ticket almost every minute in a 7-Eleven store in Culver City. Worker Ana Sorto reminded a customer that she had purchased $ 452 million worth of Mega Million tickets the week before, while the jackpot was $ 548 million. She stated that he told her that he was considering giving a ticket to everyone at his workplace, probably every $ 226 to $ 2 per ticket.
"They are crazy about lottery tickets," said David Chavez, a colleague of Sorto.
For this Mega Millions jackpot, 46-year-old Lamont Smith of Los Angeles has purchased at least one ticket almost every day since he reached $ 100 million. A regular lotto player, the ad manager, said he was waiting an additional 5 to 7 minutes to win the jackpot because of the crowd. Hearing people talk about what they will do if they win is fun, Smith said.
If he wins, Smith plans to invest in municipal bonds and give his immediate family allowances for the rest of their lives. Back in Philadelphia, he said he has already won $ 346,000 in the Cash 5 lottery.
"When I'm going to put it under the scanner, the pleasure is to see if you've won," Smith told USA TODAY Sunday after buying lotto tickets. "It's a thrill that this figure gives you that you won." Whether it's $ 5 or $ 5,000, it's just the thrill that "Oh, I won!" "
Mega Millions is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands.
Contribute: The Associated Press
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