Mega Millions' Lives Up to Name With $540 Million Jackpot

Today's drawing has the largest ever payout for the multi-state lottery.

March 30, 2012

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Across the United States, people are standing in line to buy a ticket or two for today??s Mega Millions drawing with a $540 million jackpot, the biggest ever, the Columbus Dispatch reports. The drawing will be held tonight at 11 p.m. EDT.

Ticket sales leading up to the drawing could push the jackpot even higher, said Marie Kilbane, Ohio Lottery spokeswoman. The odds of winning Mega Millions are one in 176 million.

The high jackpot has players swarming convenience stores for tickets. "Normally, they??d spend $5 on a sandwich, but now they??re spending $5 on the lottery," said Dave Patel, who owns C Town Market & Deli. "They??re all dreaming about it, all that money and what they??d do with it."

"If you have 20 people in line, that??s great; they??re spending money on lottery tickets, and many are new people there for the first time," said NACS spokeman Jeff Lenard. "But if the 21st person is a regular wanting something else, and if the line doesn??t work for that person today, that person may not be back tomorrow."

However, convenience stores can benefit from the increased number of people in their stores overall. " You bring in new people, and then you make sure that the coffee (in the store) smells great so that they say, 'Wow, that??s the coffee I want,??" said Lenard.

The last Mega Millions jackpot winner was on Jan. 24, who received $71 million. Forty-two states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands, offer Mega Millions tickets.

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