Includes video report
Waiting with anticipation for that big drawing tonight? Here's a news story and some videos to help pass the time and keep those dreams alive.
Lines have been snaking around stores from coast to coast all week with customers looking to cash in on what has now become the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, tonight's $540 million Mega Millions drawing.
A now eye-popping 400 million tickets have been sold in just the last 48 hours for the drawing set to take place at 11 pm Eastern Time Friday at WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia — one of the 42 states where Mega Millions is played. Friday's jackpot pushed past what was estimated to be a $476 million jackpot after stronger than anticipated sales nationwide. And it far surpasses the previous record of $390 million.
"Friday night's Mega Millions drawing ... provides an unprecedented opportunity for players to take a chance on a half-billion dollar dream for just the $1 price of a ticket," Gary Grief, lead director for the Mega Millions group said. "We have people coming out that have never bought a ticket before, because they see this number and they think, 'Gee, for just a dollar, I have a chance at a half a billion.' It's hard not to take a chance on that."
If one single winner manages to hit all six numbers of the Mega Millions jackpot, the winner will have the option of receiving 26 annual payments of about $20.7 million, or a cash option of approximately $389.8 million. Hopefuls with lottery fever across the U.S. are strategizing and purchasing dozens — even thousands — of tickets.
Washington Wizards player Chris Singleton — who is bringing in somewhere in the area of $1.5 million this season — is one lottery player who is playing with more than one shot — Singleton thinks he's a slam dunk to win after spending $10,000 on tickets.
In California, lottery officials put out a cheat sheet of which stores have sold the most winning tickets, many of those were packed all night Thursday with lottery hopeful confident that lightning will strike again in the same place.
In fact, California is experiencing a bit of a gold rush this week; thousands have been waiting in line — some for up to six hours — at the Primm Valley Lotto Store on California's Nevada border. Nevada is one of the eight states were you can't buy a Mega Millions ticket, which may be surprising to some given the state's reputation as a gambling mecca.
Gamblers from Las Vegas began to line up at the remote store at 6 a.m. Thursday to get their $1 tickets, according to The Las Vegas Sun.
The state where the winning lottery ticket is sold is also in for a treat. A lump sum payment to a winner will mean millions in taxes paid instantly to the state, which could mean badly-needed funds for education, parks and dozens of other state-funded programs.
The revenue from the sales of tickets is also a boon for the 42 states that participate in Mega Millions drawings, as higher sales equal greater profits.
Each state determines individually how these profits are allocated. Though most states earmark these profits for education, other programs for natural resources, property tax relief and the elderly are in the mix.
The odds of winning Friday's Mega Millions jackpot are downright depressing — a miserable 1 out of 176 million. Yet many Americans are eternally optimistic, with millions dreaming that it's time for their number to come up.
"What if?" Betty Warner of Fargo, North Dakota asked. "You're dreaming. You know, it's your hopes."
Mathematicians are often asked what people can do to improve their odds.
"You would do well to get numbers that most people would think look unlucky, because those would be the ones that nobody would pick," says New York University Mathematics Prof. Sylvain Cappell.
"There are things you should definitely avoid," says fellow NYU Mathematics Professor Charles Newman, "because many people don't avoid them. So there are people who will make numbers based on the patterns they make on the sheet where you fill in the numbers. It's a very bad idea putting money in those."
So if the mathematician were to buy a ticket, what numbers would he pick?
"I choose them at random," says Newman.
Lottery players can see an after-tax analysis of the current Mega Millions jackpot by visiting USA Mega's Jackpot Analysis page.
Lottery players seeking to check the winning numbers Friday night are urged to use USA Mega (www.usamega.com). State lottery Web sites are normally brought to a standstill during busy periods, while USA Mega normally remains responsive.
Mega Millions drawing results will be posted immediately after the 11:00 pm drawing at USA Mega. The number of winners and new jackpot will be announced after all participating Mega Millions states have reported their data, which normally occurs within a couple of hours after the drawing.
Tickets will remain on sale typically until 10:45 pm Eastern Time on Friday, although players should check with a lottery retailer in their state for the exact sales cutoff time. Players are advised not to wait until the last minute.
VIDEO: Watch news reports about the unprecedented drawing taking place tonight
GMA and CNN have spent alot of time feeding the frenzy for the Mega Millions jackpot. 20/20 will air a special about the Frenzy tonight “Lotto Frenzy: Be Careful What You Wish For”.
Yeah, I was watching CNN yesterday, they also featured info on lottery pools. I think around 10:30AM MM will announce if they will raise the Jackpot
again. I think it will go to $600 million!
Lucky you your in USA.Go buy the Tickets!..........DON'T FORGET TO PICK THE BONUS BALL AS NUMBNER 7,if you don't want $ 540 MIllion pick another number,but don't regret later,rememnber I have told you.
Abdi
I think it is all but certain that there will be at least 2 winners.
I estimate sales will be 344,000,000 tickets.
Did you see the 2nd paragraph?
"A now eye-popping 400 million tickets have been sold in just the last 48 hours"
More than that JW!
ouch !!!!!....thats a nice lil deal for the MM representatives !!
Extrapolate that to 650 million total tickets.
Minimum of 3 winners.
Odds were 1 in 175 million now it's 1 in 176 million whoohoo those odds are rough!
Once that first ball drops you'll instantly know if you won or lost the jackpot.
Yep it will happen that fast.
LOL!! The guy in the second video didn't even realize it went to $500 million, he was so surprised.
It would be pretty wild if no one hit the jackpot tonight ....If it were to run the lotto fever sets in again
Odds r same.. some round up.. some round down.. im getting so anxious don't even know if i wanna check my tickets tonight!!!! lol
Do you all watch the drawing live or come on here to check your numbers like I do?
I'll probably watch live tonight
A millionaire athlete spending $10,000 on tickets and he thinks he is sure to win? He should have gave that money to charity. He will regret it in a few years when he is washed up and broke like many other former athletes now are. Then $10,000 will seem like a lot.
People will play all their lives and never win, then some newbie who never played before comes along and plays and wins with one ticket. They are clueless, and blow it all and end up with no money in a few years. The lottery plays no favorites. The MM website is really slow today.
Just did a quick check on the jackpot....no increase as of yet...perhaps by noon
"Washington Wizards player Chris Singleton — who is bringing in somewhere in the area of $1.5 million this season — is one lottery player who is playing with more than one shot — Singleton thinks he's a slam dunk to win after spending $10,000 on tickets."
UGH - Really??!! Like you aren't part of the 1% already? If he wins, I'm egging his house!!! Wait.... how in the world did he get 10,000 tickets?
The fact that within 48 hours 400 million tickets were bought! Yeah, I'd say several winners. At least one work group, maybe two, and a couple single winners.
Making terroristic threats on a website that clearly states they log your IP address is generally not considered a great idea.
This thing has definitely hit a fever pitch.For the first time ever my girlfriend came to me last night and asked me to buy a few tickets.She doesn't even play or like the lottery much but this particular jackpot has become widespread with attention......
I would love to know how much he won after tonight. I wonder if he wouldn't be to embarressed to share those details. I hate the publicity around this as it encourages addicts to stretch themselves even thinner to compete with the likes of individuals as him. I agree, he should have donated it to charity but who am I to tell a man what he should or shouldn't do with his money. I just hope it doesn't inspire the working class to spend what they don't have going after hat 99.9999999% won't ever get.
Everyone from the super rich 1% to the very poor are playing. That is what I like about lotteries. Everyone has a chance to win. Remember this headline:
Mo Money, Mo Money, Mo Money: Three Already Filthy Rich Connecticut Investment Bankers Win $245 Million Powerball!
More sour grapes again sirbrad!!!
I have $15.00 in and the more the news covers it this morning, the more I want to put another $5 into it. Even the news guy said he bought $25 after they finished shooting the clip. All I know is if another Jack Whittaker tygoon wins it again.....Lord help us all...
I think there will be three or four winners tonight.
LOL!! I was just thinking about you!! Had a feeling when you made your way here you'd see this since
and sirbrad had a back and forth in the other thread but lets leave that over there and let this thread alone.
Absolutely! This needs to be a non-whining site! Lets get back to the real meat of this thread, $600 million up for grabs.
Some bloggers seem to be working from the formula of dividing the odds into the number of tickets sold to determine potential number of winners. That's as good a place to start as any but not necessarily accurate in the least. It is just as much likely that 1 person will win as it is 3 can and that's even if anyone wins at all tonight ( I admit that would be a freak of nature if it rolls over).
I have bought QPs before and in the same set combinations were repeated. These machines gerneate at random and every time someone requests a set it starts afresh generating random sets of numbers.
Oh did they raise the jackpot to $600 million?
Not yet. However my prediction was that it would be raised twice since Tuesday night, and it was, and I think this will hit $600 million later today.
With the way ticket sales are going, this evening will be insane! I would not be surprised to see the annuity hit 700 million
making the cash option over $500 million 
An addict doesn't need publicity in order to "stretch themselves", they're addicts and
they are going to do what they're going to do regardless.