Hopeful players take shot at $153 million lottery jackpot

ATLANTA - Bob Oneschuk crossed the border from Canada to take a shot at winning Tuesday night&#39;s $153 million Big Game lottery jackpot -- and he bought 226 of the one-dollar tickets in Detroit. <br> <br> But they weren&#39;t all for him. When the jackpot in the seven-state game climbs above $100 million, Oneschuk makes the trip for people as far away as Toronto who want him to buy tickets. <br> <br> He said this is the third time he&#39;s made such a trip in two years. <br> <br> Oneschuk was one of thousands who bought tickets ahead of the drawing, the third-largest in the history of the game and biggest since a record $363 million prize in 2000. The odds of winning are one in 76 million. <br> <br> Lottery officials raised the jackpot by three million dollars Monday. <br> <br> The Michigan Lottery said it expected to sell 12 million tickets for Tuesday night&#39;s drawing. That&#39;s several million more than were purchased for the previous drawing on Friday. <br> <br> A spokeswoman for the Michigan lottery, Stephani Schlinker, said the large jackpot is what ``draws the attention of people who&#39;ve never played before or those who only play when it gets this big.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The Big Game is played in seven states: Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and Virginia. Players pick five different numbers from one to 50 and one Big Money Ball number from one to 36.