PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) — Americans from coast to coast are dreaming big today.

No one won the Mega Millions drawing on Tuesday, so now Friday’s jackpot is the largest in United States history.

It stands at $540 million and tickets are going fast.

“I would give my parents a lot of it to be honest,” Amanda Ireland, a Giant Eagle employee selling the tickets, said. “I’d pay off their house and take care of my brother.”

While the payoff may be big, the odds of winning the jackpot are rather small. But people in line were already making plans.

“My husband and I would both retire immediately,” one woman said.

“I’d have a helluva good time – that’s what I’d do,” added another man.

“Fix the world,” a ticket-buyer said.

Your chances are one in 176 million of matching all of the numbers.

The winner could get $19.2 million a year for 26 years or a single payment worth $359 million. The next drawing is set for Friday at 11 p.m.

Previously, the largest jackpot was $390 million, won by two players in Georgia and New Jersey in March 2007.

RELATED LINKS:
Mega Millions
Pittsburghers Hoping To Hit Mega Millions Jackpot (3/27/12)

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