If you forgot to play Mega Millions last night you’re in luck, The Mega Millions jackpot is now edging closer to the $1 billion mark after no winner was drawn again on Tuesday.
The jackpot is now estimated at $970 million and will be drawn again this Friday. Tuesday’s drawing stood at an estimated $865 million.
If someone hits on Friday, it would be the third-largest jackpot in U.S. history.
The other lottery game taking place in most of the U.S., Powerball, has cruised to a sweet $730 million for tonight’s drawing.
MEGA MILLIONS WINNING NUMBERS: 10-19-26-28-50 Mega Ball: 16 Megaplier: 2
No one hit the jackpot, but there were 11 tickets sold that had five numbers, missing only the final Mega number. Nine of those tickets are worth at least $1 million and two tickets sold in Florida had the Megaplier number and are worth $2 million.
It’s the first time both jackpots have rose past $700 million. The biggest prize to date was a $1.58 billion Powerball jackpot that three people hit in 2016. And the second biggest was a Mega Millions of $1.537 billion hit by a single winner in South Carolina in 2018.
The winning numbers for last Friday’s drawing were: 3, 11, 12, 38, 43, with a Mega Ball of 15.
No one has won the Mega Millions jackpot since Sept. 15, causing the prize to grow larger and larger over four months.
The odds of matching all six numbers for Mega Millions is one in 302.5 million, and for Powerball it’s a little easier to win, at one in 292.2 million.
The prizes listed are for winners who choose to be paid over 30 years, but winners almost always choose the cash prizes. For Mega Millions, the $970 million would mean a $716 million cash prize, while Powerball would be $546 million.
Those prizes also would be subject to federal taxes, and most states would grab a piece as well.