CNY'ers are betting against the odds in the Mega Millions Lottery
By: Jennifer Lee
Updated: March 30, 2012
You still have one more day to buy a ticket in the hopes of winning half a billion dollars.
About one in 175 million people has a chance of hitting the Mega Millions Jackpot.
You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than winning the Mega Millions. But, this isn't stopping Central New Yorkers who are taking the chance in becoming multimillionaires overnight.
Alan Conte, an employee at the Nice N Easy in New Hartford says they have been crazy busy.
"Tons of people are coming in and they are buying tons of lottery tickets," says Conte.
Alan says the regulars come and go, but he says he's been seeing plenty of new faces for the last couple of days.
"They're buying quick picks, but people are doing tons of pools with people and other random people who I don't usually see are spending ten, twenty dollars at a time," says Conte.
"I guess you never know. You just never know," says Inez Ramos.
Which is why new-bies, like Inez Ramos is taking her chances.
"You may not have played it and you may have had the numbers sitting on the kitchen table," explains Ramos.
Danielle Walters says she bought five tickets for herself and it's her first time playing.
She says she's out five dollar for now, but she has to take the risk.
"I had to get some instructions on how to do this and we went ahead and the computer picked four of our tickets and each of us picked special numbers for the last two," says Walters.
You need to hit all six numbers to win half a billion dollars.
And although it is Danielle's first, she has some strategies under her belt.
"My lucky number is sixteen. I hope that is the first of the six numbers that come up," says Walters.
This is being called the biggest lottery in the history of the world.
Although there is a slim chance of winning, the state Lottery says Central New Yorkers have been lucky in the past.
In 2000, a New York Mills family shared a lotto jackpot of $20 million.
In 1984, a Herkimer County resident won $3 million.
And in 2005, an Otsego County resident won $5 million.
The mega millions will be drawn Friday night.
