Community Corner

$640M Mega Millions Jackpot In Friday’s Drawing: What To Know In PA

Tuesday marked the 21st straight drawing where no one won the grand prize, leading to another huge increase in the jackpot.

(AP Photo/John Hanna)

PENNSYLVANIA — Some $640 million is now in the Mega Millions jackpot slated to be drawn on Friday after no one won in Tuesday's drawing. It marks the 21st straight drawing without a winner.

In Tuesday’s drawing, no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night – the white balls 9, 13, 36, 59 and 61, plus the gold Mega Ball 11. Drawings are held at 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Fridays.

If a winning ticket is sold for Friday’s drawing, the winner could be paid with an annuity, doled out through annual payments over 29 years. Nearly all winners take the cash option, which for Friday's drawing will be an estimated $328.3 million.

Find out what's happening in Across Pennsylvaniafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Three lottery players or groups in Pennsylvania have claimed more than $700 million since 2002, according to Mega Millions records. A $516 million jackpot was won in 2021, $153 million in 2015, and $149 million in 2014.

The huge Mega Millions jackpot comes less than two months after a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot was won in California on Nov. 8. The player has yet to come forward to claim the prize.

Find out what's happening in Across Pennsylvaniafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The reason for all the big prizes is simple — long odds of 1 in 302.6 million ensure there are few winners, and the long streaks of lottery futility allow jackpots to grow ever larger week after week.

In the 21 drawings since the jackpot was last won on Oct. 14, there have been more than 17 million winning tickets at all prize levels. These include 40 worth $1 million or more, won in 18 different states from coast to coast: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.