Officials: 3 Mega Millions winners, but no lucky tickets sold in New York

If you bought a Mega Millions ticket in New York, this isn't your morning.

Early Saturday, officials confirmed at least one winning ticket was sold in Maryland for the record $640-million Mega Millions jackpot, but a New York lottery spokeswoman said no lucky ticket was purchased in the Empire State. Later Saturday, officials reported winning tickets were also sold in Illinois and Kansas, according to The Associated Press.

Illinois’ winning ticket was sold in the small town of Red Bud, near St. Louis, and the winner used a quick pick to select the numbers, Illinois Lottery spokesman Mike Lang said. The Maryland Lottery said it sold a winning ticket at a retail store in Baltimore County.

A winning ticket also was purchased in northeast Kansas, according to the Kansas Lottery website. A spokeswoman didn’t immediately return a message Saturday morning.

"There is not a New York jackpot winner," said Carolyn Hapeman, who couldn't verify if any smaller amounts were won.

The winning numbers were 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 and Mega Ball 23. Each winning ticket was expected to be worth more than $213 million before taxes, Lang said.

With Mega Millions mania in full swing, New York took in $46 million in ticket sales on Friday alone, according to Hapeman.

Less than two hours after Friday's 11 p.m. drawing, a Maryland lottery official said a winning ticket had been sold in the state, and there could be others nationwide.

Carole Everett, director of communications for the Maryland Lottery, said the winning Mega Millions ticket was purchased at a retailer in Baltimore County.

Hapeman also confirmed there was at least one jackpot winner.

National lottery officials were expecting to list early Saturday on their website how many winning tickets were sold and from what states, but Maryland sent out its news release and called media organizations hours before the scheduled announcement. The headline of its news release said the winning sale was "one of several nationwide," but Everett told The Associated Press she couldn't immediately confirm any others.

Everett says the last time a ticket from the state won a major national jackpot was 2008 when a ticket sold for $24 million.

"We're thrilled," she said. "We're due and exciting."

The estimated jackpot dwarfs the previous $390 million record, which was split in 2007 by two winners who bought tickets in Georgia and New Jersey.

The Jackpot for Tuesday's Mega Millions drawing is $12 million, according to Hapeman.

In the run-up to Friday night’s much-anticipated drawing, it was a frenzy. Long Islanders joined dreamers across the nation, buying up tickets at a frantic pace.

On a day where the jackpot went up $100 million from $540 million — already a U.S. lottery record — they flooded retailers for their one in 176,000,000 shot.

By Friday evening, tickets in New York were selling at a rate of $4 million per hour, Hapeman said.

Earlier in the day, the pace was $1.5 million per hour, and in the midafternoon it was $3 million per hour, Hapeman said.

The afternoon rush hour never ended at the Melville 7-Eleven on Route 110 and Ruland Road, where cars were queued on the street for parking as customers lined up 10 deep or so for tickets despite two cashiers manning the lottery machines.

Until 7:15 p.m., Rocky DePaul and 10-year-old daughter Nikki of Lake Grove were lottery novices. DePaul said he didn’t even know how the game worked when he stood inside on line and asked for $10 worth of numbers.

DePaul, fresh from attending a wedding, said he felt the pressure to join the Mega madness after he learned about it from friends close and far: “I’ve had people text me from Oklahoma, asking me ‘Did you get your ticket?’ Tickets for what?”

Two young French men, in this country to manage an engineering project, also squeezed in time for 10 tickets before rushing to Manhattan. One of them, Hugo Patchouli, was just positive he was not going to win anything to bankroll vacations and cars. But, he said, “It was funny to dream about what we could have.”

After Tuesday’s drawing, when no winning tickets were sold, the jackpot bumped three times from $363 million to $500 million; $500 million to $540 million; and $540 million to $640 million.

“Bumps” in large jackpot games are common because of excessive ticket sales, lottery officials say.

The jackpot has grown since Jan. 24, the last time someone won, according to Mega Millions.

When the jackpot was just $540 million, Mega Millions had touted it as the largest in world history. In fact there was at least one larger: Just last month an entire village in Spain hit a $950-million jackpot.

Regardless, Friday’s $640 million jackpot certainly makes U.S. history. The cash option payout for a single winner is $462 million; or the winner could choose taking 26 annual payments of about $24.6 million, lottery officials said.

And then there are the taxes — 25 percent federal, 8.82 percent New York State and local, if applicable.

With Cody Derespina, AP