Two winning tickets, from Idaho and Washington, will share a $355 million Mega Millions jackpot.I'm just curious here, what would you guys do if you hit the big numbers, and suddenly found yourself $355M richer? Would you take the cash payout of $225M, or the 26 annual payments to keep the entire amount? Would you quit your Day Job immediately? How would you suddenly manage family and friends (and long lost 5th cousins) who now all have a "bid'ness idea" or just want a handout? Would the money eventually come between you and your spouse? Would you eventually curse the day you won, just as many one-time winners infamously have, or would this be a blessing? Tell me below.
Mega Millions has yet to announce the identity of Tuesday night's drawing winners, who beat the odds of one in 176 million by selecting the winning numbers: 4, 8, 15, 25, 47 and the mega ball number 42.
Gamblers lined up Tuesday at newsstands and gas stations in 41 states and Washington, D.C., hoping to overcome astronomical odds and win one of the largest jackpots in U.S. lottery history.
"The odds are 1 in 176 million," said Carolyn Hapeman, a spokeswoman for New York State's lottery division. "But plenty of people have done it before."
In order to win, players have to hit the first five numbers plus the so-called mega ball. Sixty-seven players who hit the first five numbers without the mega ball won $250,000 each.
The largest U.S. jackpot ever, $390 million in Mega Millions, was won on March 6, 2007, split by two people from Georgia and New Jersey. The second-largest jackpot -- and the largest ever in the other big multi-state lottery, Powerball -- was $365 million won by ConAgra Foods co-workers in Nebraska on Feb. 18, 2006.
Many of the winners, including the ones from New York, are required to make a public appearance after they win, but after that they can fade from public view, according to Hapeman.
Question: What would you do? How would your life change if you hit the lottery?
