Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)

■ Sales are brisk as the Mega Millions jackpot has reached $1.6 billion.

Mega Millions drawing will set record at $1.6B

- By Elliot Spagat

SAN DIEGO — The Mega Millions lottery might see a streak of jackpot rollovers end as it heads toward a record $1.6 billion drawing on Tuesday.

As more tickets sell, chances grow that at least one buyer will pick all six winning numbers. That would stop the streak of 25 rollovers, most recently on Friday night.

Based on sales projection­s, 75 percent of the 302 million possible combinatio­ns will be chosen for Tuesday’s drawing, up from 59.1 percent in Friday’s, said Carole Gentry, spokeswoma­n for Maryland Lottery and Gaming.

“It’s possible that nobody wins again, but it’s hard to fathom,” Gentry said.

About 280 million tickets sold in Friday’s drawing, none matching the winning mix of 7, 15, 23, 53, 65 and 70 to claim an estimated prize of $1 billion. Fifteen tickets matched five numbers for second-tier prizes of at least $1 million.

The $1.6 billion estimated jackpot would be the largest prize in U.S. history. The second-largest jackpot was a $1.586 billion Powerball drawing on Jan. 13, 2016.

Russ Lopez, spokesman for the California Lottery, said tickets were going “very, very quickly” on Saturday.

Tonya Jimenez, assistant manager at Beavers Market in Fort Collins, Colorado, said all three registers were going Saturday, a day after the store sold 220 tickets. Many hopefuls haven’t played before.

“We tell them how to play it,” she said. “They don’t know what to do. We’re doing a lot of explaining.”

 ?? Nati Harnik The Associated Press ?? A Mega Millions billboard in Omaha, Neb., shows $999 million, the maximum number the sign can show, ahead of the lottery draw Friday.
Nati Harnik The Associated Press A Mega Millions billboard in Omaha, Neb., shows $999 million, the maximum number the sign can show, ahead of the lottery draw Friday.

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