As of late Friday evening, the Mega Millions jackpot has yet to be struck, which means the pot still stands at $493 million. The jackpot is the second highest collected this year; the highest was March’s $533 million jackpot.
The next drawing for the prize will be held on Tuesday night, July 24, at 11 p.m. E.T.
Winners must possess a ticket with the six numbers that correspond to the six that will be drawn.
More than a million people won a smaller prize Friday night, payouts which occurs if an individual matches a few numbers but not all. There were two $1 million dollar winners who matched five balls, and 47 who matched four balls, along with the Mega Ball, to collect $10,000 each.
The last jackpot was hit on May 4th. Since that day, more than 14 million winning tickets have been sold.
Players have a one in 259 million chance of winning the Mega Millions jackpot. History seems to indicate that July is a good month to play. Twenty-two jackpots have been won in the month of July since the game began in 2002.
Mega Millions is available in 44 states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, Alabama and Mississippi do not participate.
If you want your chance to be the valley’s newest millionaire, get your ticket before the drawing tonight.
