"Everybody is buying a lot of tickets," said Nicoleta Malacea, who was operating the lotto machine at Discount Corner in downtown Bridgeport. "We have customers who usually play the daily numbers, but today, it's Mega Millions. That's what they want."
The jackpot is $540 million.
Its closest competition was the $390 million Mega Millions payout of March 6, 2007, won by a buyer in Georgia and another in New Jersey.
"I buy four numbers," said Al Dullivan, 78, of Bridgeport. "Always four. Never more. If I win, I'll help out my friend, who just told me that he's not doing too well."
The prize attracted people who almost never play the game.
"I don't usually play lotto," said Aida Gomez. "But I found out this morning that it's a half a billion dollars."
Gomez was buying tickets for her office pool.
"I work at Unicare on Canon Street (in Bridgeport), and there are eight people in our pool. Two dollars each, and I wrote everybody's name, and we're going to make copies for everyone, and we're going to win," she said.
A co-worker, Natasha Campbell, accompanied Gomez.
"If we win, I'm off to Italy," she said.
In Stratford, Pedro Vega had just bought five numbers at Martin's News & Cigarette Outlet on Barnum Avenue.
"If I win, I'll help out all of my friends," he said.
On the East Side of Bridgeport, Ebony Harper was out buying tickets for the 34 in her office pool.
"All it takes is one number, and we all win," she said. "Even the boss and his wife are in it, I think."
Connecticut Lottery spokeswoman Linda Tarnowski recommended not waiting until the last minute to buy tickets.
"Obviously, this is the largest jackpot that we've ever had, so we're telling people to play responsibly," she said. "Everything is running smoothly, and we're selling about 2,200 numbers an hour."
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