The Mega Millions jackpot has risen as expected due to the overwhelming amount of tickets being sold throughout the country, Reuters reported.
The 11 p.m. drawing taking place Tuesday night caused ticket sales to boom, mostly because 70 percent of tickets are bought the day of the drawing, raising the jackpot to $636 million from a previous $550 million, only $20 million away from the record of $658 million, according to Reuters.
Paula Otto, Virginia's lottery director and Mega Millions lead director, said if someone has chosen the winning numbers they could be walking away with a whopping $341 million after taxes, according to Reuters.
"We've never had a jackpot this high the week before Christmas," Otto told Reuters.
Hopefuls lined up outside of a grocery store in the Upper East Side of Manhattan shared what they would do with the money if they win.
"I would give at least half of it to my church," Keith Boyd, pastor at the nearby Trinity Baptist Church, told Reuters. "It would be a way to bless others." Boyd was buying a total of 20 tickets, 19 to give away as gifts and one for himself.
Another buyer who confronted the snow and lined up to buy a ticket was Syed Waheed from Afghanistan who said he would use the fortune to bring his entire family to America, Reuters reported.
Otto said the frenzy of ticket buyers has raised the chance of winning numbers being drawn tonight by 20 percent; the stakes are now between a 65 to 75 percent chance someone has the lucky ticket, Reuters reported.
According to Otto, the more tickets sold, the more chances a winning number will be chosen.
"You don't know you have a winner unless it's 100 percent covered, though," Otto told Reuters.
But, if no one has the lucky ticket tonight, the jackpot amount is expected to jump to $950 million with a $509 million cash option, Otto told Reuters.
"You like to see winners and you like to see big jackpots. I leave it in the hands of the bouncing balls," Otto added.
