Mega Millions Winning Numbers Produce Record $476 Million Jackpot
Huge attention will be focused on this Friday's Mega Millions winning numbers after again no ticket matched all six numbers Tuesday night, resulting in the jackpot to climb to almost half a billion dollars.
The Tuesday drawing left 47 people just one number short of taking home what was the third largest jackpot in history. The prize set for Friday is estimated to be a record $476 million.
The previous record jackpot in the Mega Millions lottery was $390 million in 2007. There were two winners for that jackpot one from New Jersey and the other from Georgia. The prize was split between them.
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The winning numbers for Tuesday were: 9, 19, 34, 44, 51 and the Mega Ball was 24. The 47 tickets that matched five out of the six numbers will still take home at least $250,000 and if any of those tickets used the Megaplier option for one dollar more that ticket could be worth one million.
Players who choose to add the Megaplier option for an extra dollar to their ticket and end up hitting the that number are eligible to receive up to four times the value of their original winning ticket, excluding the jackpot.
Mega Millions drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. The game is played when five balls are drawn from a set of balls numbered one through 56; the Mega ball is drawn from a set of balls numbered one through 46.
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Mega Millions is currently played in 42 states as well as Washington, D.C. and the Virgin Islands.
Also the odds of hitting the jackpot are 1 in 176 million while the odds for the overall chances of winning any prize are 1 in 40. Should anyone win they have 180 days to claim their prize.
Gaming officials state that players do not need to buy an excessive amount of tickets because it does not increase a person's chances of winning, but expect long lines at the lottery machine this week.
