DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Superstition didn’t deter playershoping that Friday the 13th will
bring them good luck in the MegaMillions game as heavy sales prompted lottery officials to boost
thejackpot to $425 million.Paula Otto, the Virginia Lottery’sexecutive director and Mega Millions’ lead
director, said Friday morningthat sales were 40 percent ahead of projections, prompting officials
toboost the jackpot for the draw that night."Won’t it be fun if wehave a huge lottery winner on
Friday the 13th?" she said. "I always saythere are no unlucky numbers in the lottery. I work
on the 13th floorof our building. I like 13. It’s certainly fun to have such a bigjackpot on a day that
some people are superstitious about."Theestimated $425 million jackpot is the second-largest Mega
Millionsjackpot ever, trailing a $656 million jackpot won in March 2012, and itis the fifth largest
lottery jackpot in U.S. history. The currentjackpot has rolled over 20 times, and its winner could have
a cashoption of $228 million before taxes.In New York state, ticketswere selling at a pace of $500,000
an hour Friday morning. The state’slottery spokeswoman, Christy Calicchia, said sales are normally
between$60,000 and $70,000 an hour.Mike Cline, 46, bought a lone Mega Millions ticket at a Des Moines
convenience store Friday morning."She’sselling me the winner right now," he said to the store
owner as heturned in a sheet with his family’s birthdays on them. It’s the numbershe uses all the time.
Aside from his own personal ticket, he plays in awork pool that uses a combination of set numbers and
the automated EasyPick option."I actually think we have a better chance with the Easy Pick,"
he said. "But I don’t care how we win, as long as we win."AMega Millions ticket still costs $1
after a major game revamp inOctober that decreased the odds of winning the jackpot to about 1 in
259million.The winning ticket must match the six numbers drawn.About 32 percent of the possible
combinations of numbers have been sold.If no one wins Friday night, the jackpot will increase to $550
million,Otto said."The good news is, sales are strong. We’re not inrecord territory yet but we
probably will be this time next week ifwe’re still taking about this jackpot," she said.Mega
Millions is played in 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.Copyright 2013 The
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