Washington sales for biggest Mega Millions in history hit $15M in a week
Oct 22, 2018, 5:59 PM | Updated: Oct 23, 2018, 6:55 am
(AP)
(AP)
Thanks to the massive $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot, Washington State Lottery sales are blistering hot.
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Director of the Washington State Lottery Marcus Glasper told KIRO Radio that on Sunday, tickets were selling at a rate of about $132,000 every 20 minutes. Typically, the Mega Millions lottery sells $40 million worth of tickets a year in Washington.
Carry a couple twos on the back of a napkin, and that tells you that on Sunday, tickets accrued about 86 times more money on a per-minute basis.
In just the last week, there have been upwards of $15 million worth of tickets sold in Washington.
By law, a portion of the money made by the Washington State Lottery is allocated toward education. More specifically, 80 percent goes into the Washington Opportunities Pathways account, funding scholarships for students going into college.
It also funds the State Need Grant, and is operated through the Washington Achievement Council.
A Mega Millions winner hasn’t been crowned since July 24. The odds of any single person matching all six numbers are estimated somewhere in the neighborhood of one in 302 million.
The next drawing will be announced Tuesday at 8 p.m. PDT. If a winner isn’t crowned, the next drawing will be on Friday. If a single winner is chosen, they stand to take home a $906 million lump sum after taxes are taken off of the top of the $1.6 billion jackpot.
