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It’s time to check your Mega Millions tickets.
The numbers have been drawn for Friday night’s lottery jackpot — which is estimated at a whopping $940 million, with a cash option of $486 million.
Since Mega Millions’ jackpot was last won in October, the top prize has continued to grow across 23 consecutive drawings, Mega Millions said this week.
As a result, the jackpot is now “flirting with the magic $1 billion mark,” Mega Millions said. If someone wins the current $940 million jackpot, it would be the fourth largest jackpot that Mega Millions has ever seen and the sixth largest prize in lottery history.
Here’s what you need to know.
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Mega Millions winning numbers
The winning numbers for the drawing at 11 p.m. ET on Friday are 3-20-46-59-63, Mega Ball: 13 and Megaplier was 3x.
How do I play Mega Millions?
To enter Mega Millions, players pick six numbers — or choose to have the lottery machine generate a random “Easy Pick” or “Quick Pick”:
- Five numbers will go from 1 to 70 (white balls)
- One number can be picked from 1 to 25 (gold Mega Ball)
If your ticket matches all six of the winning numbers from the drawing, you’ll win the jackpot. There are also smaller prizes depending on how many balls your numbers match.
The cost to play Mega Millions is $2 a ticket. You can add the Megaplier for $1, which will increase the amount of your potential prize up to five times the original prize (except for the jackpot).
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Where can I play Mega Millions?
Mega Millions can be played in 45 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Five states — Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah — do not offer Mega Millions.
What are my chances of winning?
Although the $940 million jackpot might be tempting, it’s important to note that odds of taking home a top prize are extremely slim.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 302,575,350 to 1.
The odds to match all five white balls are 12,607,306 to 1.
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Top 10 Mega Millions jackpots
According to Mega Millions, there have only been three jackpots in the game’s history larger than Friday’s estimated prize.
Here’s a look at the top 10:
- $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018: Won in South Carolina.
- $1.337 billion: July 29, 2022: Won in Illinois.
- $1.05 billion, Jan. 22, 2021: Won in Michigan.
- $940 million, Jan. 6: Active.
- $656 million, March 30, 2012: Three winners in Illinois, Kansas, Maryland.
- $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013: Two winners in California, Georgia.
- $543 million, July 24, 2018: Won in California.
- $536 million, July 8, 2016: Won in Indiana.
- $533 million: March 30, 2018: Won in New Jersey.
- $522 million: June 7, 2019: Won in California.
Largest lottery prizes in history
Here’s a look at the top 10 largest lottery prizes, between both Powerball and Mega Millions:
- $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022: Won in California.
- $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016: Three winners in California, Florida, Tennessee.
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018: Won in South Carolina.
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022: Won in Illinois.
- $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021: Won in Michigan.
- $940 million, Jan. 6: Active.
- $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019: Won in Wisconsin.
- $758.7 million, Powerball, Aug. 23, 2017: Won in Massachusetts.
- $730 million, Powerball, Jan. 20, 2021: Won in Maryland.
- $699.8 million, Powerball, Oct. 4, 2021: Won in California.
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Contributing: Olivia Munson and Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY.
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