BALTIMORE — Who wants to be a billionaire?

Mega Millions, the national lottery known for its high-stakes jackpots, has reached $1.15 billion for the next drawing Friday – potentially the fifth largest prize in the game’s history.

Mount Washington resident Paul Chrismer said he is feeling lucky and is looking to end the year as a wealthy man.

“Driving back from my in-laws in New Jersey and heading to my sister’s house in Maryland for Christmas dinner, I heard on the radio that the jackpot for this Friday’s drawing was going to be $1.1 billion,” Chrismer said. “So when I stopped for gas, I purchased four Mega Millions tickets, one each for my sister, nephew, niece and parents as last-minute stocking stuffers.

“Before handing them out, I reminded them that for any winning ticket, I would receive a 50% finders fee,” he said.

The price of the ticket is still a relative bargain for now.

Mega Millions, which is sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, is raising the price of its tickets in April from $2 to $5. It is the second “price adjustment” since it began selling tickets more than 20 years ago, and the first since 2017.

Carney resident Eric Blunt joked about the chances of winning the grand prize, which are estimated at one in 302,575,350.

“Don’t tell anyone,” he said about the $1.15 billion jackpot. “I don’t want my odds to get worse.”

The Maryland Lottery’s total sales of all tickets since Sept. 10 are approximately $750 million, and Mega Millions has accounted for about 4.7% of total sales since the last jackpot was hit on Sept. 10.

Seth Elkin, a spokesman for Maryland Lottery, said this $1.15 billion jackpot “is a win for Maryland Lottery players and retailers, as well as for the state.” There has been $35.1 million in Mega Millions ticket sales in Maryland since Sept. 10, when the last jackpot was for $810 million in Texas.

There have been $5.5 million in prizes won by Maryland Lottery players on Mega Millions tickets sold since Sept. 10, including two tickets each worth $1 million.

One of the $1 million tickets was sold in October in Brooklyn Park, and the prize was claimed by an Anne Arundel County resident. The other $1 million ticket is still unclaimed as of Thursday morning. It was sold Dec. 10 at a Wawa store in Bel Air and the winner has 182 days from the drawing date to claim.

“We tend to see an uptick in sales after a jackpot has been rolling for a while because it’s not just regular lottery players who are interested in high jackpots, it’s everybody,” Elkin said. “At one time or another almost everyone has done some daydreaming about what they might do if they won a large jackpot. We also see groups of coworkers, friends or relatives who join together to buy tickets when there’s a big jackpot, which increases participation and makes it a fun shared experience.

“We encourage everyone to keep it fun and please play responsibly, within their budget and their means,” Elkin said.

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Baltimore Sun reporter Jean Marbella contributed to this article.

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