CHICAGO (CBS) – Get out the lottery tickets. The Mega Millions jackpot grew to $1.22 billion before Friday night’s drawing, making it one of the largest jackpots in the game’s history.

The winning numbers drawn on Friday evening were: 3, 7, 37, 49, 55, with a Mega Ball of 6.

The chance to win this huge jackpot caused lottery players to look forward to the gigantic main prize.

They say that lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, but some people who play the Mega Millions game are hoping that lottery magic could do just that by looking at two locations that have proven success in winning winners can show.

Some shoppers at the Jewel-Osco store in Melrose Park walk away with more than just groceries. A person picked out a $1 million Powerball ticket at the store last Saturday.

“I come here every day and now I think, ‘I have to start playing the lottery.’ “Yeah, sure, every day,” Ayisha Sheard said.

Jessica Mendina, who doesn’t play the lottery, said it was cool to hear that someone there had already won $1 million in the lottery last week.

“Good for them, to be honest. I’m happy for them, especially now, in the season of giving. Sometimes you just need a little hope for the coming new year. You don’t know what you can do with it.” “You could do anything now,” she said.

So what would players do if they had the money to do something?

“I’m definitely going to pay off my tuition and buy a property,” Peter Valez said.

Sheard said she would pay off her children’s college tuition and “probably have a new house built out of the ground.”

Certainly very sensible options, but how about a luxury?

“I would buy a boat for Lake Michigan; Definitely put it there, yeah,” Valez said.

Brian Wakeman said he was buying a house in Florida.

Sheard said she “might even give everyone a car.”

“Like Oprah. Everyone gets a car. You get a car, you get a car,” she said.

Almost every shopper at a River Grove supermarket picked up tickets Friday. The store already had a winner worth $600,000.

“I think the most I ever won was $100,” Valez said. “Until tonight.”

Patricia DeVito has already won $1 on her scratch card. Not much, but she said that was pretty lucky for today.

“I never win. My daughter is always the winner, but not me,” she said.

Devito said she hopes the luck carries over to her Mega Millions ticket

“Wow, I would be very happy,” she said.

Lottery players have hit the Mega Millions jackpot just three times in 2024 – the fewest in any year since the game began.

If you don’t win on Friday night, there’s always next time, but starting in April 2025, the price of a Mega Millions ticket will rise from $2 to $5.