Jackpots could soon be jumping.
Big time.
Mega Millions is up to $144 million, with Powerball at a not-too-shabby $90 million.
Wait till they go nearly nationwide on Sunday.
That's when more than 30 states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, will start selling both games.
Millions of additional players means jackpots should build even faster.
Or at least the bigger one will.
Suppose no one hits Mega Millions tonight. It will probably go up to about $170 million. After all, it rose roughly that much Tuesday night.
That total approaches the $200 million mark, when lottery frenzy really kicks in.
Take the making of the record Mega Millions jackpot of early 2007. Nine weeks were needed just to reach $100 million. Five more drawings - less than three weeks - and the jackpot hit $216 million.
The very next jackpot: $275 million.
Four days later: $390 million.
That was a rise of $115 million between drawings - when Mega Millions was played in just a dozen states.
Now imagine people in over 20 additional states, including Pennsylvania, joining the madness.
Sounds like a recipe for rocketry.
Similarly, suppose Mega Millions gets hit tonight, and Powerball goes up to $105 million or so tomorrow night.
Come Sunday that will look attractive to players in New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Michigan and six other highly populated states that previously offered only Mega Millions.
So Powerball would probably soar faster than usual, while Mega Millions' rebooted loot might shoot up more slowly than before.
That might spur indecisive states - like Florida and California - to get on the cross-selling bandwagon, too.
Don't bet that records will be broken, though.
With so many players, jackpots could be plucked before they really get a chance to build, some observers say.
The games are so similar, players aren't likely to strongly prefer one over the other.
Powerball does have the biggest second prize - $1 million, awarded to anyone who matches the first five numbers and paid $1 extra for the Power Play multiplier option.
The next biggest prize is Mega Millions' $250,000 for matching the first five numbers.
On the other hand, when both pots get hit, Powerball will enjoy a significant edge, since its top prize starts at $20 million, compared to Mega Millions' $12 million.
Stay tuned. The experiment - which hopes to raise even more money for participant states - starts Sunday.
For more on lotteries, go to www.philly.com/philly/news/lottery, www.powerball.com and www.megamillions.com.
