Mega Millions lottery drawing could pay out record prize

By Nguyen Huy Vu
Seattle Times staff reporter

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The state's Mega Millions jackpot will reach a record $150 million today after no one matched the winning six numbers in Tuesday's drawing.

This week's second drawing will be at 8 p.m. today.

The state's largest payout for any lottery game was $93 million, awarded in November 2002 to Dick Warren of Hoquiam.

"If someone from the state wins, it will be the largest jackpot for Washington," said Kathy Kreiter, state lottery deputy director.

Kreiter said she expects there will be an increase in ticket sales, adding more money to the jackpot, but lottery officials won't know what the payout will be until the weekend.

"We aren't exactly sure what they will win," she said. "But they can't win less than $150 million unless they split it."

To play, ticket holders choose five numbers and a mega ball number or have a computer randomly pick them. Mega Millions is played in Washington, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas and Virginia. Washington joined the 11-state lottery in September 2002.

Tuesday's winning numbers were 03-07-10-22-32, and the Mega Ball number was 23. More than 970,000 tickets won prizes, including 20 tickets from nine states whose owners each won $175,000 and 89 tickets that each won $5,000.

Northwest players can buy their tickets at more than 2,600 retail locations throughout Washington.
 
Nguyen Huy Vu: 206-464-3292 or vnguyen2@seattletimes.com

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