Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot Results in Ticket-Buying Spree

Aug. 25, 2009— -- The $252 million Mega Millions jackpot numbers were drawn amid lottery fever across the country.

The winning Mega Millions lottery numbers were: 3, 12, 19, 22 and 40 with the Mega Ball, 2.

With no winner Tuesday night, the jackpot now stands at $325 million for Friday's drawing.

The unusually high lottery prize has drawn in players in each of the 12 participating states as people dream of getting rich off their $1 investment.

"With jackpots of this size, you start to see people who don't normally play a game like Mega Millions buying a ticket," said Dominick DeMarco, a spokesman for the New Jersey Lottery. "They may notice it's over 100 million, and they'll say, 'OK, I'll take a shot at it.'"

The publicity of large jackpots from local newspapers and vendor signs help bring the lottery to the attention of new players, he said.

That had led more and more players to pick up tickets.

It also doesn't hurt that a retired South Carolina state employee won the $260 million Powerball jackpot last week. Solomon Jackson Jr., of Columbia, S.C., came forward Tuesday afternoon as the sole winner of the lottery.

In Massachusetts, lottery officials there said 3,300 tickets a minute were being sold across the state during the peak hours. Yes, 3,300 tickets every 60 seconds.

In Georgia, the lottery expects 6 million Mega Millions tickets will be sold there for this drawing. That compares to 1.2 million for Tuesday sales on the start of a prior jackpot run.

In the 2 p.m. hour alone, 255,000 tickets sold in Georgia. That's about 4,250 a minute and ticket sales tend to increase in the after-work hours.

"Whenever we have a large jackpot, there is always excitement across the state and that translates into additional dollars for the educational programs we fund," said Tandi Reddick, a spokeswoman for the Georgia lottery.