Are you dreaming about hitting it big with the lottery?
You're not alone. Lottery retailers are seeing a torrent of sales with $1.4 billion in lottery jackpot winnings up for grabs.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Mega Millions jackpot was at a jaw-dropping record high of $970 million with a cash option of $548.6 million. The next drawing is Friday night.
The Powerball jackpot continues to grow as well. It's at $430 million with a cash option of $248 million. The next drawing is Saturday, Oct. 20.
The odds of matching all numbers for either lottery game are pretty long: 1 in 302,575,350 for Mega Millions and 1 in 292,201,338 for Powerball. Even so, people are laying down their money for a chance at a dream.
Some folks are also wondering if there's a 'lucky place' to buy lottery tickets. Representatives of both the Ohio and Kentucky Lottery commissions say no.
"Retailers that sell the most winners do so primarily thanks to volume and not luck," emphasized Chip Polston of the Kentucky lottery.
A free app called Lottery Places allows people in any state to locate lottery retailers near them or near any destination they choose. It is available for iPhone, Android, and Windows.
Michigan residents can bypass the store completely and buy Mega Millions tickets and Powerball tickets online.
One high-volume lottery retailer is Deters and Daughters Liquors in Covington, Kentucky. They sell a lot of tickets, Polston said.
Deters and Daughters is 18th in lottery sales in Kentucky, according to Jennifer Deters of Deters and Daughters. And right now ticket sales are especially high.
"It's almost pandemonium," she said. Ticket sales are at least three times the normal pace.
Some consider the store to be a lucky place to buy lottery tickets with many winners sold, Deters said. The last two big winners were more than $200,000, she said. They've also sold a $100,000 Mega Millions winner.
When the jackpot is big, people mostly come in and buy quick-pick tickets instead of selecting their own numbers, she said.
Jamie Maggard said he thinks people win as often with quick-picks as they do with their own numbers. Maggard works at the Dixie Delicatessen in Fairfield. His father, Harold Maggard, owns the business.
The Dixie Delicatessen also has a reputation for being a lucky place to buy tickets. Over the years they've sold "some nice winners," Maggard said.
"We just never sold the big jackpot," he said. "We've sold a couple half-million dollar winners."
They've also sold lots of "oh, so close, I just needed one more digit," tickets, Maggard said.
Sales are currently brisk, easily eight to 10 times more people are coming in to buy Mega Millions and Powerball tickets, he said.
When the jackpot gets big, you see more of what Maggard called casual players. These are people who might not play when the jackpot is a mere $40 million. Maggard counts himself in this group. He's hoping to hit it big with the Mega Millions.
"I've got $5 in a pool," he said.
The Dixie Delicatessen is a high-volume lottery store, ranking in the top 1 percent in Ohio with sales and is one of the top sellers in Butler County.
"It's quite awesome," Maggard said. He attributes their popularity not so much to a reputation for being lucky but to good customer service.
"We try to cash a lot of customers' tickets and take care of them," he said.
If we get past a $1,045,000,000 Mega Million annuity then we will have the largest combined jackpots ever.
Yes, get your tickets today as tomorrow will have long line ups everywhere. There already was more activity around the service desk at the local grocery store this morning. Last week machines went down when I went to buy mine. Went to the next place close to me, and the machine was down there too! Had to drive 4 miles out of my way and got lost, finding another lotto retailer. Didn't do much good anyway, won a few bucks, that's it.
If the 24 Hour news cycle is not covering these jackpots today than they will on Friday. A one billion dollar jackpot will grab everyone's attention.
What with Power ball coming up fast and behind MM we can enjoy the show.
I am personally seeing a ton more lottery purchases even at the somewhat out-of-the-way stores I go to. Everyone knows about this, not just the regulars.
looks like a 1+B$ jackpot is close. by tomorrow night it should definitely be there!
Time to pull a 'Gloria'!
gonna be a lot of people in need of cure for this Saturday's Megamillions hang over
No lines around here in rural PA!
Todd, thanks for posting this from the KY lottery. I do believe we had visited that huge liquor store in Covington some months ago.
The lottery place app is great.
Nice one!
Now THIS Hearsetrax I can agree, tons of people with heartache and depression! With either game.
LOL! Saturday’s cure is an elevated Powerball jackpot and another chance at the big bucks!
Now just to find someone who'll let me cut in line in front of them...
The miracle is in the timing. For Quick Pickers at least.
The Jackpot will probably be hit on Friday. If it happens to roll we'll be looking at a all time record for Tuesday.
1 Billion JP ? Not really. It needs around 2.5 Billions JP to get 1 Billion ( Money you get after taxes ). So it needs at least 2 rollover and this may never happen. . .
When you tell someone your salary, are you careful to only tell them how much you make after taxes?
and this is yet one more reason we love Todd
Very true......some by a heavier sledgehammer, compared to others. They are entertaining though
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NAN HUNDIT, SEB'NTY MI'ON, DA'AG!
There was a former lp member who seemed to believe that Gloria cheated him out of a win.
In all my years of buying lottery tickets, I've never had to get in a line to do so.
Even this week, I've bought my MM tickets from several different places, and there wasn't any line at any of them getting these tickets. All were business as usual.
I think that people who are in these massive lines are going to the wrong places to make their purchases, or buying them at the wrong time of day.
My territory is the heavily populated Detroit metropolitan area, where you don't have to go a mile to find a lottery retailer.
I just can't connect with the people claiming this is pandemonium because my experience - granted, just my experience - is just the opposite.
YMMV
The TV news people probably look for the most crowded stores. It's not hard to find at the California border with Nevada (and also Utah v Idaho).
Some people favor stores that have previously sold jackpots That's why most state lotto sites have that info available. That store in Calif on the border of Nevada often has lines several blocks long when there is a large jackpot. That's because winning tickets have been sold there before and because of it's proximity to NV.
True that. Border stores are a completely different animal. And that's what makes for good video for local, lazy, disingenuous reporters.
I've never had to stand in a line for a ticket, either. At least not longer than any normal day. I suppose many of these lines occur in massive downtown metropolitan areas, or along the borders of a state that doesnt allow for lotteries, or at certain retailers that are considered especially "lucky" due to past winners sold at that store. Just my $.02.