Valley Residents Grab Tickets For $244M Mega Millions

Gary Linders won’t pass up the chance to win $244 million.

He’s won before.

“I won $96,” he explained. His ticket contained four of the six numbers. On Tuesday, the Palm Springs resident bought five tickets.

Tuesday’s drawing was the largest jackpot since January, when it reached $355 million. A single winning ticket on Tuesday with the cash option would be worth close to $156 million

The numbers drawn on Tuesday were are 1, 14, 35, 50, 53 and the Mega number is 43.

Katie Comstock usually doesn’t buy lottery tickets. But, she was too tempted. “I just saw the amount, and I was thinking: Hmmm, I’ll pay my bills off. I’ll take a little trip,” she said.

Workers at the Jensen’s grocery store tried to keep up with the increased ticket sales, which always happens when the jackpot swells.

“‘How much is it?’ That’s the first question they always ask,” said worker Andrea Mayo. “It’s $244 million? Give me five dollars. Let me have ten dollars.”

Two years ago, a man who bought a ticket at Jensen’s matched five of the six numbers. He won nearly $60,000.

But, someone got luckier in January at Franklin’s Market in Cathedral City. They won $250,000.

If he wins, Linders plans to quit his job and move. “I’m going to move to a place where no one knows about me,” he said.

The deadline to buy a ticket is 7:45 p.m. Tuesday. The drawing is at 8:00 p.m.

The chances of winning the Mega Millions jackpot is 1 in 176 million.