(CNN) — At least three winners will split Friday’s record $640 million Mega Millions jackpot.
Winning tickets were confirmed in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas according to lottery officials.
Lottery officials are waiting for information on potential jackpot winners from other Mega Millions states.
The winning Illinois ticket was a quick pick sold at the Moto Mart in Red Bud, Illinois, according to the Illinois lottery. The winning Maryland ticket was sold in Baltimore County, the Maryland Lottery said Saturday. The Kansas ticket was sold in the northeastern part of the state, according to the Kansas State Lottery website.
The winning numbers were 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 with a Mega Ball of 23.
California Lottery Commission spokesman Alex Traverso said 29 tickets sold in that state matched five of the six winning numbers. He said the payout will be about $125,000 to $130,000.
The multistate jackpot caused long lines at convenience stores, with many dreaming of creative ways to quit their jobs if they get the lucky numbers.
The Mega Millions jackpot has reached a record high of $640 million ahead of tonight’s drawing as seen here on a Liquorland sign in Covina, California.
A New York Post headline touts the Mega Millions lottery as tickets are sold at a convenience store on the east side of Manhattan on Friday. No one has matched the magic five numbers and Mega Ball since January 24 — a full 18 drawings with no winner. Given the pace of ticket buying, the jackpot will go even higher before the drawing.
A woman fills out a Mega Millions ticket form at Liquorland in Covina, California.
Victoria Vazquez, second from right, buys $280 worth of Mega Millions tickets for her office pool at Liquorland.
A man shows his Mega Millions ticket in front of clerk Abdulwali Mohamed Osaim at a convenience store on Manhattan’s East Side.
A Mega Millions ticket sold in Washington on Friday. The jackpot has skyrocketed by $300 million, and is likely to climb, since the last drawing on Tuesday.
With the line stretching around the block, hundreds of people waited for over two hours to buy lottery tickets at Bluebird liquor store on Thursday in Hawthorne, California.
A Mega Millions ticket is printed out at Bluebird liquor store on Thursday. The store has a reputation for selling winning tickets, even though their last big jackpot ticket was sold a decade ago, before Mega Millions came to California, according to owner James Kim.
Jasmine Covington, like many Bluebird customers, rubs her Mega Millions ticket against the store’s wooden Bluebird statuette for good luck.
One year-old Karissa Sanchez sleeps on her father Chris’ shoulder as they have been waiting over three hours to buy their Mega Millions lottery tickets at Bluebird liquor store.
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Sales skyrocketed at Manhattan Tobacco, a New York convenience store, cashier Alex Shanahe said. He said the store has proved to be lucky before, having sold winning tickets of $3 million and $5 million.
“The sales have tripled. Everybody wants to win the Mega Millions,” Shanahe said before the drawing.
A single winner could claim yearly payments or a one-time cash option of $462 million, Mega Millions spokeswoman Kelly Cripe said.
The Mega Millions lottery is played in 42 states plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, lottery officials say.
The odds of winning the jackpot are about one in 176 million, which means a person would have a better chance of getting struck by lightning.
Myra Langford, 70, a retired school administrator, said she knows the odds but still bought five tickets.
If she wins, Langford said, she will help fix the roof of her church and move out of the cramped Queens apartment she lived in for the past 47 years.
“You got to be in it to win it,” she said, parroting a commercial.
Economist Austan Goolsbee, a professor at the University of Chicago who also chaired the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said the winner or winners should take the lump sum instead of the annuity.
The choice comes down to interest rates, and with interest rates at zero, the lump sum just makes better financial sense, he said.
“If you are fortunate enough to win the lottery, you most certainly want to take the lump sum,” Goolsbee said.
Psychologist Scott Bea said if a winner is a poor money manager and has been unhappy in life before winning, that’s likely to continue.
“It solves one problem, but it creates a half-billion others,” he said. “You have about no chance at winning this, but it really gets people excited.”
His wife asked him if the couple could spend $10 on lottery tickets.
“We could probably flush it down the toilet and have the same outcome, but if it gives you some hope, why not?” Bea said.
