Mega Millions Winning Numbers July 8, 2016: $540 Million Jackpot

The winning numbers for Friday night's Mega Million drawing were 8-19-20-55-73 with a mega ball of 5.

There were no jackpot winners in Tuesday's drawing, meaning the grand prize rolled to an estimated $540 million.

Don't get too excited, would-be lucky ones. The one-time cash payout is a mere $380 million.

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For the winning numbers drawn on July 5, click here.

The $508 million is the game's third-highest jackpot ever. It's been growing for 34 consecutive weeks.

The record Mega Millions jackpot is $656 million, and three tickets shared that prize on March 30, 2012. Just behind that is the $648 million jackpot split by two winners on Dec. 17, 2013.

The odds of picking the correct numbers on five white balls and one yellow ball are one in 259 million.

No matter how many people play Mega Millions, the chances of winning never change. The chances of winning are based on the amount of number combinations, not the number of players buying tickets, say lottery officials. The Mega Millions game is played by selecting five numbers out of 75 choices (the numbers from 1 to 75), and by selecting one extra number from 1 to 15 (that's the Mega Ball).

Find locations where you can play and more information about the game on the Massachusetts Lottery website.

CNN explains the tax implications of winning the big prize:

Lottery winnings are taxed like income, and the IRS taxes the top income bracket 39.6%. The government will withhold 25% of that before the money ever gets to the winner. The rest has to be paid at tax time. Then there are local taxes. Of the 44 U.S. states that participate in Powerball, all but a handful will take an additional cut of the money, according to lottery statistics site USA Mega.

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