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Taking a slim shot at $330 million

Mark Newransky, Michigan Lottery winner
Michigan Lottery
Mark Newransky, Michigan Lottery winner. The "Mega Millions" jackpot is up to $330 million

10-12-13-35-56 (Power Ball 9)... don't pick those numbers. They didn't win last week, and they're not likely to win in the next one hundred million years.

The "Mega Millions" jackpot has reached $330 million today causing a buying frenzy of tickets. Another set of numbers will be drawn tonight (drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday night at 11 p.m. eastern).

According to Durango Bill (and who doesn't trust Durango Bill?), your chances of winning are around one in 175,711,536.

Mega Millions is a multi-state lottery game, and according to their website, "the history of Mega Millions is as exciting as playing the game!" Well let you be the judge of that:

Following a record $363 million Big Game jackpot in 2000, interest in multi-state games was at an all-time high. And as interest in the multi-state games grew, so did the participants. In May 2002, New York and Ohio joined Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and Virginia to create Mega Millions

The game is now played in 41 states plus the District of Columbia.

Abbey Brewer, a Michigan Lottery spokesperson, said in the Detroit Free Press:

The jackpot is tied for the third-largest in Mega Millions’ history. It has rolled 15 times since a person last won on November 9, 2010. "There’s a huge jump in sales when the jackpot hits $100-million. When it gets this high, sales take off."

Another option is to look for the winning ticket blowing down the street, you odds might be just as good.

 

Mark Brush was the station's Digital Media Director. He succumbed to a year-long battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, in March 2018. He was 49 years old.