Mega-Millions

After reading about Clark Gas, a Loves Park gas station selling a winning Lucky Day Lotto ticket worth $400,000 a couple days back, I thought it might be fun to see who's won the big money and how much they walked away with (pre-tax).

As I look at an email I just got from the Illinois Lottery, I see that tonight's Powerball drawing has about $730 million reasons for you to consider playing. As the Illinois Lottery's Jessica Perez explains, "This is the fourth largest Powerball prize in game history and the sixth highest jackpot in U.S. lottery history."

While you might be dreaming of winning the prize, you should know the IRS will come for a sizable chunk of the winnings.

Nobody matched all the numbers in Friday's Mega Millions game. That means Tuesday's (10/17) jackpot will be the 2nd largest in the history of the game.

It would appear that Illinois' Mega Millions players will have to continue working instead of retiring with a huge pile of cash.

If you were in Rochelle and purchased a Mega Millions lottery ticket on Tuesday, you better check those numbers again. The winning ticket was sold at a gas station there.

I used to ponder why I have never won a prize from the lottery. No big jackpots, no little ones, either. Why, I wondered, are all these people walking off with free tickets, hundred dollar, or thousand dollar, or million dollar prizes while I've gotten exactly jack squat? Short answer: I don't buy lottery tickets.

In the interests of full (and somewhat idiotic) disclosure, I rarely, if ever, play the lottery. However, when I do--I wait for the jackpot to become astronomical. Take last night's Mega-Millions lottery drawing for example. I guess I couldn't be bothered with a paltry $346,000,000. But on Friday, when the jackpot will be just south of $400,000,000, I'll probably grab a ticket.