'Mega Millions mania' comes to Joplin

JOPLIN, Mo. — Cashiers kept busy Friday (12/27) as folks rushed to get their Mega Millions tickets.

"Everybody wants that dream of the one-point-plus billion,” said Quik Stop (store 235) Manager, Robert Hammer.

The estimated jackpot is $1.22 billion. It's the fifth largest jackpot in the game's history.

For those hoping to beat the extraordinary odds of winning, one ticket just wasn't enough.

"I bought ten tickets,” said Mega Millions jackpot hopeful, Rick Braddish.

Most people have put some thought into they would do with the jackpot winnings.

"If I win, the first million is going to charity, and there's probably a couple other charities that'll get some too, but I would take care of the family first and invest the rest," said Braddish.

Mega Millions jackpot hopeful, Melissa Tompkins is also thinking about family first.

"If I won, my whole family and friends would be taken care of,” said Tompkins.

Instead of letting the lottery machine pick the numbers, Tompkins brought her own.

"We ended up going to lunch after visiting some family, and I was like, ‘save those fortune cookies,’ because we don't really put any stock into them. But I know something about fortune cookie numbers and the lotto. I thought I never play the lotto, but I thought, why not,” said Tompkins.

If lotto numbers on a fortune cookie aren't lucky enough, maybe real estate agents are right: It's all about location, location, location.

“I think it was about a month or so ago, we had one of the drawing tickets hit for about $541,000, so this store is a pretty good location where everyone buys,” said Hammer.

If luck happens to be on your side, it'll be on "Uncle Sam's," too. If you choose to take the lump sum amount ($549.7 million) the federal government will get a whopping 37% cut.