Mega Millions Jackpot Hits $1 Billion, PA Residents Get Another Shot

PENNSYLVANIA — The Mega Millions jackpot for Friday's drawing has soared to over $1 billion, and Pennsylvania residents have another shot at landing a historic payout.

No ticket matched all five numbers in the Mega Ball drawing Tuesday night, and the game's top prize will likely continue to grow as lottery fever reaches a frenzied pace.

As it stands now, the Mega Millions cash option is $602.5 million. Friday's drawing is at 11 p.m. EDT. Pennsylvania's deadline to buy tickets is 9:59 p.m. on Friday.

“We look with anticipation on the growing jackpot,” Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald, current lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a news release. “Seeing the jackpot build over a period of months and reaching the billion-dollar mark is truly breathtaking. We encourage customers to keep play in balance and enjoy the ride. Someone is going to win.”

Several players did win lower-value prizes in Tuesday's drawing by matching some of the winning numbers — 7-29-60-63-66. The Mega Ball number was 15 and the Megaplier number was 3x. They included a $2.9 million ticket sold in California, where the player chose the correct Megaplier number. Another ticket sold in Ohio is worth $3 million because it included the Megaplier.

Of the other eight tickets worth $1 million, two each were sold in New Jersey and New York, plus one each in California, Florida, Illinois and Ohio.

Mega Millions tickets are available at gas stations, convenience stores and supermarkets in states where the game is played, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Only five U.S. states — Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah — haven't authorized the Mega Millions game.

The jackpot for Friday's drawing is the third-largest in the history of the game, and the fourth-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history. But as ticket sales increase, the jackpot could eclipse the $1.o5 billion prize claimed by a player in Michigan.

The largest jackpot in U.S. history was the $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot shared by players from California, Florida and Tennessee on Jan. 13, 2016. A single player from South Carolina won the $1.537 billion Mega Million ticket on Oct. 23, 2018.

The jackpot has been growing since April 15, when a player in Tennessee won $20 million. Other Mega Millions jackpots claimed in 2022 were in California ($426 million on Jan. 28), New York ($128 million on March 8) and Minnesota ($110 million on April 12).

Overall chances of winning any prize are 1 in 24. The chances of winning the jackpot are much lower — about 1 in 302.5 million. For perspective, the odds of being struck by lightning are less than 1 in 1 million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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