text: The spokesman for the Illinois lottery says three tickets have split the record $640 million Mega Millions jackpot. 
   
   Mega Millions Lottery tickets that were given away to the first 540 people are displayed by the Hoosier Lottery's Mega Millions mascot at a store in Zionsville, Ind., Friday, March 30, 2012. The Mega... (Associated Press) 
   
   A Mega Millions lottery contestant buys his ticket for Friday's $500-million game at a corner newsstand in New York, Thursday, March 29, 2012. Forget setting up a charity or establishing a trust, the... (Associated Press) 
   
   Alfredo Mora, 91, shows off his lottery ticket for a chance at the historic Mega Millions jackpot, that reached more than $600 million on Friday, March 30, 2012, in New York. After nobody won the March... (Associated Press) 
   
   Mike Lang says the winning tickets were in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland. 
   
   He says the Illinois winning ticket was sold in the small town of Red Bud, near St. Louis. The Maryland lottery announced earlier its winner was from Baltimore County. No details have been released on the winning ticket in Kansas. 
   
   Lang says each winning ticket was expected to be worth more than $213 million before taxes. 
   
   THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. 
   
   Maryland lottery officials announced early Saturday that their state sold what could become the world's largest lottery payout of all-time, but it wasn't immediately clear if that ticket holder would get sole possession of the $640 million jackpot or have to split it with other winners. 
   
   Carole Everett, director of communications for the Maryland Lottery, said the winning Mega Millions ticket was purchased at a retailer in Baltimore County. She said it's too early to know any other information about the lucky ticket holder or whether others were sold elsewhere in the nation. 
   
   The winning numbers were 02-04-23-38-46, and the Mega Ball 23. 
   
   National lottery officials were expecting to list early Saturday on their website how many winning tickets were sold and from what states, but Maryland sent out its news release and called media organizations hours before the scheduled announcement. The headline of its news release said the winning sale was "one of several nationwide," but Everett told The Associated Press she couldn't immediately confirm any others. 
   
   Everett said the last time a ticket from the state won a major national jackpot was 2008 when a ticket sold for $24 million. 
   
   "We're thrilled," she said. "We're due and excited." 
   
   The estimated jackpot dwarfs the previous $390 million record, which was split in 2007 by two winners who bought tickets in Georgia and New Jersey. 
   
   Americans spent nearly $1.5 billion for a chance to hit the jackpot, which amounts to a $462 million lump sum and around $347 million after federal tax withholding. With the jackpot odds at 1 in 176 million, it would cost $176 million to buy up every combination. Under that scenario, the strategy would win $171 million less if your state also withholds taxes. 
   
   From coast to coast, people stood in line at retail stores Friday for one last chance at striking it rich. 
   
   Maribeth Ptak, 31, of Milwaukee, only buys Mega Millions when the jackpot is really big and she bought one on Friday at a Milwaukee grocery store. She said she'd use the money to pay off bills, including school loans, and then she'd donate a good portion to charity. 
   
   "I know the odds are really not in my favor, but why not," she said. 
   
   Sawnya Castro, 31, of Dallas, bought $50 worth of tickets at a 7-Eleven. She figured she'd use the money to create a rescue society for Great Danes, fix up her grandmother's house, and perhaps even buy a bigger one for herself. 
   
   "Not too big _ I don't want that. Too much house to keep with," she said. 
   
   Willie Richards, who works for the U.S. Marshals Service at a federal courthouse in Atlanta, figured if there ever was a time to confront astronomical odds, it was when $640 million was at stake. He bought five tickets. 
   
   "When it gets as big as it is now, you'd be nuts not to play," he said. "You have to take a chance on Lady Luck." 
   
   ___ 
   
   Associated Press Writers Carrie Antlfinger in Milwaukee, Jamie Stengle in Dallas and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report. ||||| Maryland sold one of the winning tickets for last night’s record-breaking $640 million Mega Millions jackpot, lottery officials said. 
   
   The lucky ticket was purchased around 7:15 p.m. Friday at a 7-Eleven in Baltimore County in the 8000 block of Liberty Road in Milford Mill. The winner bought one ticket with randomly selected numbers just a few hours before sales ended. 
   
   The jackpot is considered the single largest in world history, according to lottery officials. The Maryland winner will split the prize with winners in Kansas and Illinois, the Los Angeles Times reported. 
   
   Officials are also waiting for information on jackpot winners from other Mega Millions states. Carole Everett, a Maryland Lottery spokeswoman, said there were additional jackpot winners from other states, but it was not yet clear how many and where. There were four, $250,000 winners in Maryland as well. 
   
   "Unfortunately, they're going to have to deal with sharing a $640 million jackpot," she said. Everett said no winner has yet come forward for the Maryland ticket. The winning store will get $100,000. 
   
   The multi-state Mega Millions game is played in 44 states and jurisdictions, including Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia. Last night’s winning numbers were 2-4-23-38-46 and Mega Ball 23. The Illinois Lottery says a grand prize ticket was sold at a store in Red Bud, Ill., near St. Louis, according to the Chicago Tribune. 
   
   The store that sold the ticket was a mob scene early Saturday, with national press and curious onlookers gathered in the parking lot. Several satellite trucks have set up with lights and cameras. 
   
   Rodney Gould, who lives a five minute walk from the store, stopped by to buy some Hall's cough drops without realizing that the store had sold a historic ticket. He grabbed his chest and sighed when he heard. 
   
   "I should have purchased that ticket," he said. Gould bought a ticket at the 7-11 on Thursday. 
   
   “This is truly remarkable and historic,” said Maryland Lottery Director Stephen Martino said in a statement. “We can’t wait to greet the winner of this world-record setting jackpot.” 
   
   Maryland has been the site of several major lottery wins in recent years. 
   
   In December, the restaurant and liquor store Wesley's in Elkton sold a $125 million winning Powerball ticket. In 2007, Mace Liquors in Essex sold a $26 million Mega Millions winning ticket. That same year, Walther Liquors in Nottingham sold a $330 million Mega Millions winning ticket to Ellwood August "Bunky" Bartlett and his wife, Denise. 
   
   luke.Broadwater@baltsun.com 
   
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target: – At least three lucky (and still anonymous) souls have winning tickets in the $640 million Mega Millions jackpot, reports AP. The winners were sold in Illinois (in Red Bud, near St. Louis); Maryland (in the Baltimore suburb of Milford Mill, reports the Baltimore Sun); and somewhere in Kansas. California struck out but had lots of close calls, notes the Los Angeles Times: Twenty-nine tickets there matched five of the six numbers, and each should be worth in the "high hundreds of thousands." For the record, the lucky numbers were 2-4-23-38-46, with the Mega Ball of 23.