$356 MILLION: Mega Millions lottery jackpot nears record

Speaking of naive.. id go talk to the long island medium bout my daddy.. id have to money!!

They have to raise the jackpot by early evening Monday night if we want to have any chance at seeing a $400 million jackpot.

They raised it late Monday afternoon on the last large MM jackpot prior to raising it again prior to that Tuesday night drawing...hoping it happens with this one

[:i agree:]

I have a sneaking suspicion that the MM jackpot will be raised around dinner time on Monday.

Its going to be curious to see the sales for this draw and compare them with the sales for the $380 million draw (both being close) to see if the holiday spirit had any thing to do with it lol

I just checked the stats for the 380 MM jackpot (1-4-2010) and it jumped from 242 million the previous drawing. This was won right after New Years so I have no doubt the holiday spirit played a big role in this.

The sales for the $242 million jackpot were $121,535,218, the $380 million draw were $229,421,186. The last draw $290 Million was $111,282,952 (if the info is correct), but when the jackpot gets up there people go crazy lol so ya never know

Ashabug, the safest plan would be to hold true to your first instinct - tell absolutely no one. I've had some things I was tempted to share before but refused for fear information would be spread. Out of curiousity I shared some less sensitive information just to see if the people I shared it with could be trusted. Would anyone like to guess the results? Months later the information was still coming back to me from many different people. The longer time went on, the more twisted the story was when it returned. My guess is when you tell one person, that person typically tells at least one person and they tell one person and on and on it goes. Where it stops nobody knows. For your own saftey my advice is be still and tell know one except maybe your attorney or tax advisor. I'm not sure I could even trust my wife to tell no one but I already have my attorney picked out. Good luck!

The cash value for the last MM jackpot of 290 million was $205.5 million, so I think the sales figure of $111 million might be a tad off. I really have no experience on how accurate those sales numbers are anyway.

many ppl. have said (insert my real name here) don't rattle easily,

so its a big yes.

My husband and I are both active traders in the financial market so we have experienced large gains before just not quite the level of where this jackpot is heading.

We would both confide in our attorney and absolutely no one else. As for keeping quiet...not a problem, but staying calm might be a little tougher.

I earned a big check a couple years ago, told 1 person, my mother, and it spread like wild fire. I want to say that I have learned my lesson, but 365 million, that is a lot to keep in. I'd probably keep it to myself, not because I'm strong enough to just do that, but because I've planned how I will surprise my family with a lotto win for years now, and nothing will get in the way of that.

The website says the sales for just that drawing were that amount, whatever is extra  builds the cash amount each time

Another stupid question... what exactly is a trust for? what does it protect u from?

It allows a lawyer or whoever is in charge to claim the prize for you, so your identity is hidden. So no one knows you actually won. Only certain states allow you to do this