One of the largest jackpots in U.S. history will grow even larger since there was no winner for Friday’s drawing of the Mega Millions’ $750 million top prize.
The winning numbers were 3, 11, 12, 38, 43 and Mega Ball 15
Friday night gave players a chance to win the Mega Millions jackpot, which swelled to a projected $750 million — the fifth largest in lottery history and the game’s second-largest ever.
Mega Millions estimated its next top prize would be $850 million, which would be the third-largest of all time. The drawing is on Tuesday.
Saturday, players can try their luck in the Powerball drawing, with a projected $640 million jackpot, the eighth largest in U.S. history and the game’s biggest top prize since March 2019.
The jackpots promoted by both lotteries are the prize winnings of winners who take an annuity option, in which prizes are paid out over 30 years. Most winners opt for the cash option, now $628.2 million for Mega Millions and $478.7 million for Powerball.
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The Powerball jackpot hasn’t been won since Sept. 16, a $94.6 million prize in New York.
Here’s what you need to know about both games:
Mega Millions
- When is it? Mega Millions is drawn every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. ET.
- What are the odds of winning? The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350 and the odds of taking home $1 million by matching five numbers is 1 in 12,607,306. The overall chance of winning any prize is 1 in 24.
- What is the cost to play? Mega Millions tickets cost $2 each. Megaplier, which lets players increase non-jackpot prize winnings by 2, 3, 4 or 5 times, costs an extra $1.
- How do you play? Players pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers. There are five different numbers from 1 to 70 and one number from 1 to 25. Players can also select Easy Pick or Quick Pick and have the numbers auto drawn.
Powerball
- When is it? Powerball drawings are held Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.
- What are the odds of winning? The odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292.2 million. There is a 1 in 24.9 chance of winning any prize.
- What is the cost to play? Powerball costs $2 per play.
- How do you play? Select five numbers from 1 to 69 for the white balls, then select one number from 1 to 26 for the red Powerball.
Powerball and Mega Millions are played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Powerball is also offered in Puerto Rico.
Contributing: Jordan Culver, USA TODAY; Sarah Brookbank, The Cincinnati Enquirer; The Associated P
2021-01-16 00:54:29