The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot aren’t great.
You’re more likely to get struck by lightning, bitten by a shark or pulverized by an asteroid – though maybe not all at once – before matching all five numbers plus the Mega Ball.
Yet the 1 in 303 million odds of winning the pot haven’t deterred Delawareans from buying tickets. In fact, now that the jackpot is the second largest in Mega Millions history, reaching nearly $1.3 billion as of 11:30 a.m. Friday, people are turning out in droves to try their luck.
“Sales have dramatically increased as they usually do when jackpots get high, although they don’t reach this level too often,” said Vernon Kirk, director of the Delaware Lottery. “We have a booth at the fair and it’s been extremely busy down there.”
Kirk said while the air-conditioned building might have something to do with the large number of ticket purchases, “sales have been crazy all week.”
“It seems like maybe they think there’s some special Mojo or something if they buy their ticket from the lottery booth,” Kirk told Delaware Online/The News Journal on Friday.
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Scenes at convenience stores and other Mega Millions retailers across the state prove this.
On Tuesday evening, when the pot was (only) $830 million, men and women, some with children, stood in a long line at a Talleyville Wawa on Route 202, patiently waiting for their opportunity to purchase a ticket. As each buyer left the machine, Mega Millions receipt in hand, others in line wished them luck.
Some even joked about giving their phone number and splitting the prize if the buyer won.
At that same Wawa on Friday, there was already a line – albeit shorter – by 10:30 a.m.
Down the road on Concord Pike at the Fairfax Shopping Center, tickets were being purchased.
After having blood work done at Lapcorp, Kim Reighley found herself drawn to the Fairfax Newsstand a few doors away – a store with homemade signs out front that read, “MEGA MILLION 1.10 BILLION.”
Reighley, who lives in Wilmington, said she has only purchased lottery tickets maybe four other times in her life. But when she saw the size of the jackpot, something inside her said to test her luck.
“I don’t even want to win the billion,” she said. “That would be a lot of responsibility. Maybe just like a million.”
What would she do with her winnings? Nothing too glamorous, she said. She’d pay for her 25-year-old daughter to go back to college and pay off all her bills.
Rebekah McDonald, a Clayton resident, echoed Reighley.
She stopped at Smyrna News & Tobacco on Glenwood Avenue in Smyrna early, around 9:15 a.m. Friday. She bought 11 Mega Millions tickets there.
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If she wins, she said she plans to pay off bills, travel and then she’d like to open up a nursing home to help people in need. But she’s also playing for fun, she said.
“The line’s not long now, but it will be tonight. That’s why I’m here early,” she said.
Two or three people were lined up in the store over the course of about 15 minutes, but as soon as one person walked out, one or two more walked in. Most said they were there for Mega Millions tickets.
McDonald said all the attention over the billion-dollar jackpot brings people out.
“It’s the excitement – the chance to take a gamble,” she said.
George Wallis, of Smyrna, said he’s played the lottery for about 20 years, but rarely plays Mega Millions because it’s usually not on his radar.
So why did he buy tickets Friday morning?
“It’s all the news about the jackpot being so big,” Wallis said. If he’s the lucky winner, he said he’d like to buy a house on the water in St. Martin.
At the ShopRite near Wilmington’s Riverfront, a steady stream of customers stopped their carts at the counter to buy lottery tickets on their way out of the store. Employees said they’ve sold more tickets in the past few days than any other time they can remember. They even had to empty the register during the day because of the influx of cash.
ShopRite employee Tanasia Turner, who has been at the store since it opened at 6 a.m. on Friday, said many people came in on their way to work. She said all she’s heard the past few days is people saying they have to “play (their) numbers.”
“I’ve got you if I hit,” lottery players told the employees behind the counter as they filled out their tickets.
Kirk, the Delaware Lottery director, said the huge pot has definitely had an effect on sales.
Typically, he said, Mega Millions sales average about $200,000 a week with “normal” size jackpots. Last week – July 18 to 24 – sales were $1.4 million. This week’s sales are projected to be over $3 million.
While the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are low, they’re not impossible. And smaller prizes are more attainable.
Just this week, a Greenwood man was stunned to find he’d won $3 million on a spur-of-the-moment ticket purchase. He bought it at a Bridgeville Royal Farms ahead of the July 22 drawing.
The 36-year-old, who asked Delaware Lottery officials to remain anonymous, scanned the ticket several days after the drawing and found he’d matched all five numbers – worth $1 million – as well as the 3x Megaplier. The odds of winning $1 million are about 1 in 12 million.
The man said he was “just showing my wife how easy it is to use the self-service kiosk” when he bought the ticket. He’s been playing Delaware Lottery Draw Games once a week for years, but usually plays Multi-Win Lotto. He’s won $500 or $600 prizes from there before, he told lottery officials.
“We saw how big the jackpot was for Mega Millions and decided to give it a try,” he said. “…I never expected anything like this.”
Though the self-serve kiosks have worked well for many over the last week, they weren’t running at two separate New Castle County Wawas on Friday morning. Potential winners said they were frustrated, but certainly not deterred.
At Windsor Food Market in Wilmington, the kiosk worked just fine. As Twan Wilson chatted with others buying their Mega Millions tickets, he said he’s already planned out a list of how he would spend his winnings.
“I’m going to give some money to the church, give some money to the community, give some money to my kids, my mother, my family, my other family and the rest of it I’m going to save,” Wilson said before adding he wants to build a house in Dover. “I want to move away from this town because I want a real big house made.”
The Dallas Cowboys’ fan said after taking the one-time disbursement $747.2 million, he’d go see the Cowboys play.
“The Cowboys are my team,” he said.
Wilson’s charitable acts will have to wait until Saturday morning. That’s because he doesn’t look at his lottery tickets until day after the drawing.
“I feel waiting (up) to see the pick is greedy,” he said.
What time is the Mega Millions drawing?
The drawing is held at 11 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on various TV stations across the country. While local stations vary, it will be shown on Philadelphia’s Fox 29 Friday night.
Reporters Ryan Cormier, Hannah Edelman, Ben Mace and Esteban Parra contributed to this report.
Got a story tip or idea? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com. For all things breaking news, follow her on Twitter at @izzihughes_
