JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After handing out 99 lottery tickets to excited listeners last week, 99.9 Gator Country was at it once again Friday hoping to help one of its loyal listeners hit the jackpot.
Radio personality Amadeus from Your Hometown Morning Show was at Best Bet in Orange Park to hand out the tickets for the $1.28 billion prize.
The tickets went to the first 200 commuters to swing by the promotion starting at 6 a.m. Friday -- until they were all gone. They were down to the last 50 by about 8 a.m.
“It’s like giving out a dream,” co-host Eden Kendall said. “When we hand someone a ticket, it’s like saying, ‘Here are a few hours of fantasizing about what it would feel like to be a billionaire.’”
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Many of those who stopped by early Friday said they wanted to pay off their homes and have enough to retire. Several said they planned to give back to the community if they win.
One listener hoping to get lucky said she’s not greedy.
“I don’t even want a billion,” she said. “I just want enough to get some acres, pay my mom’s house off and build a new house and put some in an investment.”
The Mega Millions prize has grown so large because it has been more than three months since anyone matched the game’s six numbers and snagged the jackpot. That amounts to 29 consecutive drawings without a winner.
The jackpot is the nation’s third largest, behind $1.5 billion prizes won in 2018 and 2016.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are a staggering 1 in 302.5 million.
Apparently, during the last drawing on Tuesday, nine people almost won the jackpot, according to Mega Millions. Who knows? Maybe someone -- or a few people -- might get life-changingly lucky Friday night.