Mega Millions Fever Hits Lynbrook

With the odds stacked highly against them, local residents are testing their luck Thursday in the Mega Millions record $540 million jackpot.

in Lynbrook is one store happy to have the extra business, and excited at the possibility of selling the winning ticket.

"It’s been exciting, especially now since it’s so high,” said Shah Keshav, an employee at the store. "It's been very good business today."

The odds of hitting the jackpot Friday are estimated at one in 176 million. According to a Daily Finance article, you techincally have a better chance of getting struck by lighting (one in 10,000), dying in an airplane crash (one in 355,318) and hitting a royal flush in a hand of poker (one in 655,750) ... or even dying from a flesh-eating bacteria (one in 1 million).

Don't tell that to Glenn Adycki, a Lynbrook resident and millionaire hopeful. Adycki was playing for the second time Thursday after playing last week, and is also in a pool with his co-workers.

"I’ve seen the lines everywhere -- it’s crazy," Adycki said. "I’m hoping to just get a little chunk of the change."

What would you do with so much money? Adycki had a couple of ideas.

"I’m going to give a lot of money to my family, close to a million if possible, and then say 'don’t ask me for anything else, you should be set from here on out,'" he said. "Then I’d buy a house, pay off my bills, get some nice cars and one thing I’d like to do is buy my own business."

Not everyone has the Mega Millions fever, however. Resident Art Dunn said he refuses to play.

"It’s 176 million to one on the mega, and 45 million to one on the regular lotto ... you can’t tell me they haven’t cut down on the winnings," Dunn said.

Dunn instead prefers to buy scratch off tickets, with the hopes of making a quick buck or two.

"I buy a single one, two, four, whatever,” Dunn said. "Once in a while you get a $10 winner, once in the while you really get lucky and you win $50. But you’ve got to be standing under an iceberg, in the middle of June to do that.”

Are you playing the Mega Millions? Tell us in the comments.