The Mega Millions jackpot has crept back over half a billion dollars.
Lottery spokesperson Gary Kohn says that seems to be the new level at which casual players start to pay attention.
“We really don’t take notice when it’s $200 or $300 million, although that’s still an enormous amount of money,” said Kohn.
Kohn says if it seems like there are more large jackpots these days, there are. That's what the multi-state lottery association was hoping for when they tweeked some of the regulations for both Mega Millions and Powerball.
That included the addition of a third weekly Powerball drawing.
“Last year, Powerball moved to a Monday, Wednesday, Saturday schedule, to have more frequency with prizes and have larger prize funds”
Kohn says the big jackpots draw in more players.
“Those are when the infrequent buyers come in and want to join in on the fund because we all playing the game ‘What if’”
Friday’s jackpot is $640 million.
The prize pool has been rolling over since October.
Kohn says many property owners benefit from increased lottery ticket sales through the annual lottery property tax credit.
