Mega Millions up to $355 Million
It costs just $1 to play and just because the jackpot is more doesn't give buyers a better chance at winning, but that's not stopping people from pouring into stores up to the last minute to try to cash in on a big dream.
Marco Menboca plays the lottery every week, spending hundreds of dollars on tickets. He says, you can't win if you don't play. "I'm going to buy three new cars, no a truck and two cars, a house in Cabot. I like that place." Menboca won $500 Monday night, and then on his lunch break bought more tickets and won another $52.
Menboca isn't the only one with big dreams. LaTasha Williams says she just need a little extra cash. "At least $100,000, wait no, $1million. That would do me justice."
Record lottery sales are good news for the state of Arkansas and for students who receive lottery scholarships. If there's more money in the pot, there's more money to share. Julie Baldridge, Director of Public Affairs for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, says if the ticket is bought in Arkansas and the jackpot is won in Arkansas, the money that comes in to that player is money coming into Arkansas. "Hopefully that player also spends that money in Arkansas." While the excitement does generate more money for the scholarship program, the Department of Higher Education says scholarship figures are based on long-term revenue projections.
On average, top selling retailers in Arkansas sell about 1000 lottery tickets a day. With the Mega Millions jackpot as high as it is, stores are selling that many tickets in just one hour. Ticket sales ranged from $1,000 to $7,000 across the state per minute. The lottery has never seen such high volume before. If no one wins the jackpot Tuesday night, the Mega Millions drawing goes up to $480 million, which is the biggest lottery prize in history.
According to the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, $1,464,558 worth of tickets were sold on January 4th alone.