Buying lottery tickets is practically a pastime for New Yorkers — and it pays off.
The Empire State has had the most national lottery winners than any other state, with 43 Mega Millions and 12 Powerball jackpots, according to Casino.org.
Ahead of Saturday’s $750 million Powerball jackpot — the ninth-largest in the game’s history — and Tuesday’s fifth-biggest $1.1 billion Mega Millions purse, Gothamites have spent $83.6 million on Powerball tickets, which is over 7% of the $1.07 billion spent across all participating Powerball jurisdictions, a state Gaming Commission spokesperson said.
“New Yorkers have a long and lucky history when it comes to the lottery … [They] are rightfully excited about the astronomical jackpots of these games, and hopefully the lucky winners of both games are right here in the Empire State,” Brian O’Dwyer, the chairman of the state Gaming Commission, told The Post.
California has the second most Powerball and Mega Millions lottery wins combined, with 46 total jackpots, followed by Indiana, which has seen 41 winning tickets.
New York has amassed the most Mega Millions wins in the country, while Indiana has taken home 39 Powerball pots, the highest of all states, Casino.org found.
Wyoming, North Dakota and Mississippi have never seen a Powerball or Mega Millions winner.
Almost $30 million of the total $83.6 million spent by New Yorkers on Powerball tickets in the past almost three months have gone toward aid to education, said O’Dwyer, who also gushed that the Empire State “continues to be [home to] North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery.”
“In addition to creating thousands of instant millionaires over the past six decades, the New York Lottery has raised billions of dollars for New York’s schools — including $3.7 billion last year,” O’Dwyer continued.
Following 35 rolls of the jackpot since Jan. 3, Saturday’s Powerball prize has grown nearly 18 times from its original $20 million pot.
Since the game’s first-ever drawing on Feb. 10, 2010, New Yorkers have spent $5.30 billion on tickets, which is almost 8% of the $69.63 spent across all states, the spokesperson said.
The five boroughs are home to 6,720 of the over 17,000 retailers that sell Powerball and Mega Millions tickets statewide. The borough with the most lottery ticket sellers is Brooklyn, with 2,078, followed by Queens, with 1,843, and Manhattan, with 1,222. The Bronx follows closely with 1,210, while Staten Island is home to only 367.
Just over a week ago, an Upper East Side deli clerk sold a $1 million Powerball ticket to a mystery person he described to The Post as “tall, handsome, quiet” woman in her 50s.
Tuesday’s $1.1 billion Mega Millions jackpot would be one of the largest in the game’s history.
“It’s just the sixth time in the game’s nearly 22-year history that the jackpot has reached this level; only five jackpots exceeding $1 billion have been higher,” according to the game’s site.
