The time is now 9:15 am
You last visited
April 19, 2024, 7:43 am
All times shown are
Eastern Time (GMT-5:00)
Feb 12, 2004, 6:43 am (Post a comment)
Lottery players have another chance at the good life Friday night when the Mega Millions lottery jackpot reaches an estimated $150 million.
"I have to win before I decide what I'm going to do with the money," said Juárez resident Salvador Reynoso, who buys five tickets for the drawing every week. "I don't have any idea what I would do with that much money."
The game has been attracting thousands of Texans and others in surrounding areas since it began in the state in December.
"People here have been responding well," said Bobby Heith, director of media relations for the Texas Lottery Commission in Austin. "It's been a learning process because it's a new game and it's on a different night ... but sales have been good."
Reynoso has developed his own system for playing the game. He buys five tickets, each with a Megaplier number. That number gives him a chance to multiply any non-jackpot prizes two, three or four times.
Mike Garcia, an employee of the Howdy's convenience store on Gateway West at Airway, said ticket sales are on par with and sometimes exceed sales for Lotto Texas, a state lottery game.
"Maybe because Mega Millions has a bigger jackpot more people are playing that one," he said.
Mega Millions is played in 11 states, and the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 135 million. The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 43.
Although no ticket matched all six numbers Tuesday night, 20 people won $175,000 each by matching five numbers. Three of those winners were from Texas.
El Paso Times
Nobody has commented on this story yet.