The Mega Millions jackpot has climbed again, reaching an estimated $296 million for Friday’s drawing after someone won the $90 million prize on December 2. The cash option for Friday was about $128.6 million.
If nobody matched the winning numbers, the jackpot was set to roll higher for the next drawing. Mega Millions drawings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays, giving players another chance within days as the prize keeps growing.
The game is simple to explain and brutally hard to win. Players pick six numbers from two separate pools, choosing five different numbers from 1 to 70 and one number from 1 to 25. A player wins the jackpot only by matching all six winning numbers in a single drawing, and the odds are 1 in 302,575,350.
That long shot has not stopped buyers from lining up for tickets that cost $5 each. Mega Millions is offered in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, making it one of the most widely played lottery games in the country.
If a ticket does hit, the winner can take the money as 30 annual payments, each five percent higher than the last, or as a lump sum. That choice often becomes part of the story after the winning numbers are drawn, but for now the attention is on whether Friday produces another jackpot winner or sends Mega Number even higher.
