Big Lottery Jackpots at Half-a-Billion Bucks for Upcoming Drawings

ROCKY HILL, CT — The two largest national draw game jackpots have climbed to what Connecticut Lottery officials are calling "huge heights" with a combined payout of more than half-a-billion dollars.

An estimated $282 million Mega Millions jackpot with a cash lump sum option of $174.7 million could be drawn Friday night, lottery officials said.

An estimated $239 million Powerball jackpot, with a cash lump sum option of $151 million, could be drawn on Saturday, lottery officials said.

“It only takes one ticket to win. When jackpots reach hundreds of millions of dollars, we encourage people to use their GameSense, or common sense, when playing,” said CT Lottery Interim President and CEO Chelsea Turner. “It is important for consumers to use good judgement and to remember to play for fun, not to make money, know when to take breaks and please play responsibly.”

The overall odds of winning a Powerball prize are 1 in 24.9. Odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338 million.

The overall odds of winning a Mega Millions prize are 1 in 14.7. Odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 258,890,850 million.

For information about the CT Lottery, stop by any CT Lottery retailer, visit CTLOTTERY.ORG.

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