YES....Im IN>>>>!!!!!!!!..Just called Me Mum....Im taking a SHOT.........If I hit...its Bubbles All Around....You heard it here.....Tim
Big Frenzy
for Big Game
Who Wants to Be a Multimillionaire?
Todd Burton, left, buys a ticket for the
Big Game from Mumtaz Faridi at the
Corliss Shell in Chicago, Ill. The jackpot
ballooned to $350 million, sending
scores to ticket windows across the
seven states participating in the game.
(Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)
May 9 ? With a record-setting jackpot swelling
above $350 million, instant millionaires in the
making are lining up in seven states for a chance
to take home a massive payout from the Big
Game.
?It?s crazy, nutty lottery-mania,? said
Joyce Moore, the owner of Stroud Liquor
in Danville, Ill. She said people were
waiting in her parking lot at 6:30 this
morning to buy more tickets. The average
customer is buying 20 to 50 tickets at a
pop, she said.
The winning numbers will be picked at
11 p.m. ET at Atlanta?s ABC affiliate by a
machine, said Amy Patrick, a communications specialist for
the Georgia Lottery, which runs the Big Game. Tickets will be
sold up until 15 minutes before the drawing, she said.
$350 Million and Growing
In New Jersey, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan and Virginia, vendors were doing a brisk business
as those seeking their fortune came to gas stations and
convenience stores, or wherever else they thought they
might find that lucky number, some buying blocks of tickets
at a time. The chances of winning this lottery are said to be
one in 76 million.
Lee Schwartz, the owner of Book Center in Cumberland,
Md., said sales of lottery tickets in his store have spiked up
as much as 500 percent in the recent days. ?There?s been a
pretty steady line,? he said of morning lottery traffic in his
book and card shop.
The odds are long, but so are the longings. Standing in
line, gamblers are driven to distraction thinking about how to
spend the proceeds.
?Buy a house,? a woman waiting to buy tickets in
Bethesda, Md, told ABCNEWS without hesitation. And ?give to
charity, go on a cruise and invest.?
But despite her grand hopes, she wasn?t doing anything
fancy when it comes to choosing her numbers or buying up
scores of tickets. ?No,? she said. ?I'll just let the machine
pick.?
Jim Black of Cheverly, Md. stood in a line of about 25
people at a 7-11 store in Arlington, Va. At midday where
men in hard hats were waiting to buy lottery tickets. Black,
who said he?s purchased tickets fewer than 10 times in his
life, said he would use his winnings to start a foundation to
cure cancer.
?It?s fun to think what you might what you might do,? he
said.
So far, the biggest sales have been in New Jersey, where
players from New York and Pennsylvania are crossing the
border to get into the Big Game. Nobody won last week
when the drawing was for a mere $250 million. Total sales
from last Tuesday?s drawing to Friday night exceeded $122
million. New Jersey led with sales of nearly $34 million.
Mad Rush
Kevin Finnerman, owner of Li?l Peach convenience store in
South Boston, said people have been just pouring in to buy
tickets. And not just regular customers, he said. He expects
that today will be ?insane.? He said he doesn?t think that any
of those paying their hard-earned dollars in hopes of winning
the Big Game are intimidated by the odds.
?They?re dreaming of what they?ll do with it for that
minute they?re buying it ? People love talking about it for
that minute,? he said.
?If sales are going strong or are higher than anticipated
or if the bond interest rates go higher ? that also helps us
increase the jackpot,? said Virginia Haines, executive director
of the New Jersey Lottery.
In Grantsville, Md., Roger Resh, who owns Grantsville
Liquors, said people have been lined up outside the store
since he opened at 7 this morning. One woman, he said,
bought $1,500 worth of tickets.
And in Cana, Va., just across the North Carolina state
line, 200 lottery players were lined up outside an Exxon
station, even before sunrise. One man bought $3,050 in
tickets.
?This is the sixth day in a row it?s been that way,? said
manager Leo Bobbitt.
Lots of Winners Possible
The world?s lottery record is $1.2 billion, set last December
by Spain?s El Gordo ? the Fat One. The record in the United
States for a lottery jackpot was $295.7 million, set in the
multistate Powerball game in 1998. That prize was shared
by 13 machinists from Westerville, Ohio.
If one person wins the Big Game, they can expect to get
$8.5 million a year, after taxes, for 26 years or a one-time
payment of $110 million.
But with the number of players, lottery officials expect
more than one winner.
?We have so many people playing across the country,
when we have a winner it seems logical to me that there
might be 10 people across America that have the same six
digits,? said Penelope W. Kyle, executive director of the
Virginia Lottery.
Haines agreed. ?It would be nice if we get a lot of
winners,? she said.
ABCNEWS.com's Amy Collins, ABCNEWS Radio's Jon Bascom
and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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