MegaMillions jackpot at $220M tonight

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bob Conner

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Tom Williams of Albany was among those seeking his fortune today at Coulson’s News Center on Broadway.

The $220 million Mega Millions jackpot got him to buy $3 worth of tickets. When the jackpot gets that high, Williams said, “It’s much more worth the effort to get in. A buck and a little bit of luck,” he added hopefully.

Actually, the $220 million would be paid out over 26 years; if the winner wants his money upfront, that would only amount to $134.6 million.

Still, it was enough to lure Rosemary Christoff of Schoharie to ExpressStop in Empire State Plaza, where she spent $15 on Mega Millions tickets. Christoff said she spends between $50 and $100 per year on the Lottery.

“We’re selling lots of Megas,” said ExpressStop clerk Millie Almy. Both there and at Coulson’s, clerks said people were buying multiple Mega Millions tickets for office pools.

The $220 million advertised jackpot is only the 10th highest in Mega Millions history, said John Charlson, spokesman for the Schenectady-based state Lottery Division. The biggest was one for $390 million last year that was split by two people, one from New Jersey and one from Georgia.

Charlson said New York accounts for more Mega Millions sales than any of the other 11 participating states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

If no one wins tonight’s 11 p.m. drawing in Atlanta, Charlson said, “Experience has taught us that sales begin to pick up exponentially because players love mega-sized jackpots.”

Mega Millions drawings take place every Tuesday and Friday.

New York got into Mega Millions in 2002. Since then, “Sales of New York’s Mega Millions tickets have generated more than $962 million for aid to education,” the Lottery spokesman said. And 13 jackpot winners have been sold in the state.