Mega Millions lottery game starts today

By Jason Foster - jfoster@heraldonline.com

Local lottery players who have tried for more than seven years to retire early via Powerball will have another way to fuel those dreams starting Sunday.

Mega Millions, a separate multistate high-jackpot game, will begin in South Carolina and North Carolina and offer payouts comparable to Powerball.

Retailers expect the new game to be popular with customers, many of whom have moved from other states that have had Mega Millions for years.

“We’ve already had people trying to play it, but unfortunately, they can’t start until Sunday,” said Linda Ewing, manager at Miller’s Produce in Fort Mill. “I believe it’s going to increase business.”

The lure of two games with payouts of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars “will make South Carolina quite popular,” Ewing said, and might even attract new customers.

The highest jackpot in Mega Millions history was $390 million in 2007. The largest Powerball payout was $365 million in 2006. Tickets for both games start at $1.

“We have some that wouldn’t play Powerball but they were used to Mega,” Ewing said. “So I believe they will be playing that one even if they don’t play the Powerball.”

The largest lottery agreement in U.S. history made it possible for states to sell both Mega Millions and Powerball tickets. Starting Sunday, South Carolina will be one of 33 jurisdictions to offer both games.

“What this means for South Carolina is another jackpot game, more winners, more prizes paid out and more opportunities to raise additional funds for education in our state,” said Paula Harper Bethea, executive director of the S.C. Education Lottery.

Mega Millions drawings will be televised on the lottery’s partner stations at 11 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays. Powerball drawings will continue to be held at 10:59 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

“Everybody’s excited right now, and everybody’s waiting for it,” said Amit Patel, owner of Herlong BP in Rock Hill, where lottery tickets have traditionally sold well. “It’s going to be a good draw for the store.”

Patel expects a lot of customers will play Mega Millions during the first weeks simply out of curiosity.

“It’s popular in a lot of other states, so people know,” he said. “People are going to take a chance.”