Across the nation the ground was scattered with torn-up lottery tickets Tuesday night as the $363 million Mega Millions jackpot went unclaimed.

That hasn’t hampered the hopeful. The lottery continues, now with the largest jackpot in its history — a half billion dollar prize — and island merchants are witnessing a surge in ticket sales.

“We’ve been busy selling, I can tell you!” said Jeanne Meek of Walt’s Market in Lynwood.

“We’ve had people we’ve never seen before buying Mega Millions. It’s insane,” she said.

The largest jackpot in Mega Millions history now totals approximately $500 million, with a lump sum value of $359.4 million.

The next drawing for the lottery is 8 p.m. Friday, March 30.

“We’ve had people buying tickets throughout the whole day,” Meek said. “In fact, I just purchased mine.”

Employees at the Jiffy Mart in Rolling Bay also said that there has been an increased interest in lottery tickets at their store. It would seem that Bainbridge Island is not immune to Mega Millions fever.

“Sales are going crazy all over the state,” said Arlen Harris, spokesman for the Washington State Lottery. “This is the biggest jackpot in U.S. history of any lottery prize.”

“I think with the sales being this brisk, I think it’s possible that someone will win this prize Friday night,” Harris said.

The odds of winning are 1 in 176 million.

Washington had 11 winners in the game’s last drawing on Tuesday; two from Spokane and one from Ferndale, worth $250,000, and eight tickets worth $10,000. One $10,000 winner was an employee at the Navy base in Keyport.

Mega Millions is a multi-state lottery, and Washington became the 10th state to participate in the Mega Millions lottery in 2002.

Last year, two Washington state residents won $380 million — the second highest jackpot in the history of the game so far.