CHESTER, Md. — Much like in September, lottery sales are up because the prize money is up, not the more than one billion dollar mega millions ticket won in Illinois, but both the Mega Millions and the Powerball are over $400,000,000.
Those high numbers get more people involved in the lottery than your everyday players. Eleanor Owen came into Bakers Liquor on Kent Island to buy a mega millions and Powerball ticket. She has a strategy she's been using for a long time.
"I buy them and never win," said Owen.
That sounds like the plan a lot of us use. Nevertheless, Eleanor will play most weeks.
"I come in here most times and get them, or if i'm at the Moose Lodge I will buy them there," said Owen.
And now as the prize money is getting close to a half a billion dollars, lottery machines are running constantly.
"Oh my gosh, we get so busy," said Leighanne Sudhoff, a clerk at Bakers Liquor. "It's almost like we have to have one person at the lottery machine because people are buying tickets like crazy."
So as we face the realization that we all have a 1 in 292.2 million chance of winning, that still doesn't stop us from thinking what we would do with all that cash.
"Whoo, I'd be flying high," said Owen.
"I hope so," said Sudhoff. "I tell everybody good luck and hopefully one day I will get a ticket and somebody will tell me good luck."
The powerball drawing is 11 o'clock tonight, You have until 10 o'clock tonight to purchase a ticket. The Mega million is tomorrow.
