( CNN ) -- Lottery players across the country scrambled to check their tickets late Friday to see if they could be $ 640 million richer . The winning numbers in the Mega Millions lottery Friday night were 2 4 23 38 46 , with a Mega Ball of 23 . If there is no winner from Friday , the jackpot would increase to an estimated $ 975 million , said Athena Hernandez of the D.C. lottery . That drawing would occur Tuesday . The multistate jackpot has grown to become the largest ever offered that could be won by an individual . It has caused long lines at convenience stores and has many dreaming of creative ways to quit their jobs if they get the lucky numbers . `` Friday night 's Mega Millions drawing will truly be a spectacular event in lottery history and provides an unprecedented opportunity for players to take a chance on a half-billion-dollar dream for just the $ 1 price of a ticket , '' Gary Grief , executive director of the Texas Lottery and lead director for the Mega Millions group , said before the drawing . Sales have skyrocketed at Manhattan Tobacco , a New York convenience store , cashier Alex Shanahe said . He said the store has proved to be lucky before , having sold winning tickets of $ 3 million and $ 5 million . `` The sales have tripled . Everybody wants to win the Mega Millions , '' Shanahe said . A single winner could claim yearly payments or a one-time cash option of $ 462 million , Mega Millions spokeswoman Kelly Cripe said . The drawing will be held at 11 p.m . ET Friday , and it can take several hours for lottery officials to determine whether there is a winner and in what state the winning ticket was purchased . The public can buy tickets until 10:45 p.m . ET Friday , but in Maine , New Hampshire and Vermont , residents can purchase tickets only until 9:50 p.m. Oregon residents can buy tickets until 7 p.m. PT . The Mega Millions lottery is played in 42 states plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands , lottery officials say . Mexicans from Ciudad Juarez were crossing the Rio Grande on Friday to buy tickets in El Paso , Texas . `` I would divide the money among my children and buy them a house here in El Paso , and we would come from Juarez ( to ) here to live in peace , '' said one man . The odds of winning the jackpot are about one in 176 million , which means a person would have a better chance of getting struck by lightning . Richard Lustig , a seven-time lottery winner who has written a book about lottery strategies , said it 's good to buy tickets as part of a group , to increase `` buying power . '' And while the urge to take a chance on such a big jackpot may be alluring , Lustig said to guard against getting too enthusiastic . `` Do n't go crazy with this , '' he said . `` Do n't get what 's called lottery fever . Do not spend grocery money . Do not spend rent money . '' Myra Langford , a 70-year-old retired school administrator , said she knows the odds but still bought five tickets . If she wins , Langford said , she will help fix the roof of her church and move out of the cramped Queens apartment she lived in for the past 47 years . `` You got to be in it to win it , '' she said , parroting a commercial . Psychologist Scott Bea told CNN that if a winner is a poor money manager and has been unhappy in life before winning , that 's likely to continue . `` It solves one problem , but it creates a half-billion others , '' he said . `` You have about no chance at winning this , but it really gets people excited , '' Bea added . His wife asked him if the couple could spend $ 10 on lottery tickets . `` We could probably flush it down the toilet and have the same outcome , but if it gives you some hope , why not ? '' Bea said . CNN 's Mary Snow , Michael Martinez , Chris Dignam and Devon Sayers contributed to this report .
NEW : The winning numbers are Friday , with Richard Lustig of about one . Psychologist : `` You have about no chance '' at winning `` but it really gets people excited '' 46 23 38 4 2 's jackpot is the largest ever that an individual can win . If there 's no winner , the jackpot will rise to half-billion-dollar .