Lotto jackpot at $20 million Brisk ticket sales expected as prize grows.

Get in line and dream.

That's what lottery players did today throughout Maryland as the Lotto jackpot for Saturday's drawing climbed to about $20 million -- the highest in the game's eight-year history.

Carroll Hynson, spokesman for the Maryland Lottery Agency, said queues began forming at 6 a.m. after no one won last night's $14 million Lotto prize.

"It's going to be a very interesting couple of days," said Hynson. "And if we don't get a winner Saturday, the jackpot for next Wednesday could go up to $25 million to $30 million."

If a single ticket correctly matches the six numbers drawn Saturday, the winner will receive 20 $1 million annual payments before taxes. The odds of that happening are 1 in 7 million.

Hynson said lottery sales outlets will stay open longer -- until 11 p.m. in many locations -- tonight and tomorrow to handle what is expected to be a "brisk" business.

Craig Button, owner of Button's Liquors in the Yorkridge Shopping Center in Lutherville, said he did five times his normal business yesterday "and I had people waiting for me to open at 8:30 this morning.

According to Hynson, bettors gambled away about $4.5 million in their attempt to land last night's $14 million jackpot.

L The winning numbers yesterday were 3, 11, 13, 19, 32 and 44.