March 31, 2012 -- Updated 0551 GMT (1351 HKT)
The Mega Millions jackpot has
reached a record high of $640 million ahead of tonight's drawing as seen
here on a Liquorland sign in Covina, California.
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Mega Millions jackpot hits all-time high
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: A winning ticket is sold in Maryland, lottery officials say
- 29 tickets in California match five of six numbers, a lottery spokesman says
- The winning numbers are 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 with a Mega Ball of 23
- The multistate jackpot causes long lines at convenience stores
What would you do if you won? Let us know.
(CNN) -- Someone in Maryland is about to have a wildly euphoric weekend.
A winning ticket for the
record-breaking $640 million Mega Millions jackpot was sold in Baltimore
County, the Maryland Lottery said Saturday.
Lottery officials are waiting for information on potential jackpot winners from other Mega Millions states.
The winning numbers in the Mega Millions lottery Friday night were 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 with a Mega Ball of 23.
California Lottery
Commission spokesman Alex Traverso said 29 tickets sold in that state
matched five of the six winning numbers. He said the payout will be
about $125,000 to $130,000.
The multistate jackpot
caused long lines at convenience stores, with many dreaming of creative
ways to quit their jobs if they get the lucky numbers.
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Sales skyrocketed at
Manhattan Tobacco, a New York convenience store, cashier Alex Shanahe
said. He said the store has proved to be lucky before, having sold
winning tickets of $3 million and $5 million.
"The sales have tripled. Everybody wants to win the Mega Millions," Shanahe said before the drawing.
A single winner could
claim yearly payments or a one-time cash option of $462 million, Mega
Millions spokeswoman Kelly Cripe said.
The Mega Millions lottery is played in 42 states plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, lottery officials say.
The odds of winning the
jackpot are about one in 176 million, which means a person would have a
better chance of getting struck by lightning.
Myra Langford, 70, a retired school administrator, said she knows the odds but still bought five tickets.
If she wins, Langford
said, she will help fix the roof of her church and move out of the
cramped Queens apartment she lived in for the past 47 years.
"You got to be in it to win it," she said, parroting a commercial.
Economist Austan
Goolsbee, a professor at the University of Chicago who also chaired the
White House Council of Economic Advisers, said the winner or winners
should take the lump sum instead of the annuity.
The choice comes down to
interest rates, and with interest rates at zero, the lump sum just
makes better financial sense, he said.
"If you are fortunate enough to win the lottery, you most certainly want to take the lump sum," Goolsbee said.
Psychologist Scott Bea
said if a winner is a poor money manager and has been unhappy in life
before winning, that's likely to continue.
"It solves one problem,
but it creates a half-billion others," he said. "You have about no
chance at winning this, but it really gets people excited."
His wife asked him if the couple could spend $10 on lottery tickets.
"We could probably flush it down the toilet and have the same outcome, but if it gives you some hope, why not?" Bea said.
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