According to the Chicago Tribune, the jackpot for Mega Millions, which was worth over an estimated $550 million, was not been won by anyone after lottery officials declared on Saturday morning that it is still looking for a winner. The winning numbers for Friday the 13th draw were 19, 24, 26, 27, 70, 12.
The estimated pot money for Friday's draw was around $425 million, which spurred an increase in ticket purchases from people who were looking to get lucky in the second-largest drawing so far on record. The current jackpot trails second to a $656 million jackpot won by a couple in Illinois in March 2012. It is also the fifth-largest in US history, said Chicago Tribune in its report.
Despite having no winners on Friday, five ticket holders with winning first five numbers are located in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Ohio.
Mega Millions is a multi-jurisdictional lottery game in the US. It is currently operated by the Multi-State Lottery Association, which is a non-profit government-benefit association. Aside from Mega Millions, the special consortium of 33 member-state lotteries operates Powerball and Hot Lotto.
Ontario, Canada-based Western University Ivey School of Business assistant professor Romel Mostafa said the attraction to lottery is when huge jackpots are offered despite the odds of winning. In a study five years ago conducted with colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University, low-income subjects were found to make more purchases for one US dollar one at a time.
"People start thinking the lottery can be fair, in that it really doesn't pick winners or losers based on education, race or occupation," Mostafa also added.
University of Texas professor of psychology Daniel Levine also added that lottery bettor make decisions in terms of what's possible. Levine disclosed, "They're drawn to the fact that there is a chance that they'll win, and they're not thinking about the numbers. Our decisions don't always fall into a rational model."
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