DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. — For lottery fans across the state of Mississippi, Thursday is a historic day.
For years, Mississippi residents wanting to try their luck in the Powerball or Mega Millions had to travel to Tennessee or Arkansas to get their tickets. But that is now a thing of the past as those lottery tickets went on sale in Mississippi early Thursday morning.
Lanesia Edmonds, a resident of Southaven, was up early — making sure she would be one of the first to get her lottery tickets here at this store. She said she has a method on how she picks the numbers that she hopes will turn her into a millionaire.
“This is a special day,” Edmonds said, “so I saw my grandmother’s numbers and I — my grandmother has been gone almost 10 years. But I was like ‘This is for grandma.'”
Store owners like Mohammad Hossain are rolling out the red carpet for this day.
“My customers are also so excited,” Hossain said. “We were waiting for a long time. They keep asking ‘where is MegaMilions and Powerball coming? It is already here.”
About 1,500 vendors across the state will sell the Powerball and Mega Millions tickets.
For a list of vendors click here.
The Mississippi Lottery Corporation started selling scratch off lottery tickets on November 25, and made nearly $9 million during the first six days alone.
About $3.8 million of the money was awarded in prizes, and nearly $2 million of it will go into the state budget to help pay for roads and bridges.
The first $80 million raised through the lottery will go towards infrastructure needs in the state. After that first 10-year period, the money will either go into the state’s general fund or be sent to the Education Enhancement Fund.
