Next Mega Millions drawing is Friday with a $1.35 billion jackpot

Delaware Online
 
Next Mega Millions drawing is Friday with a $1.35 billion jackpot

Tonight is the night you could become a billionaire.

Since there was no grand prize winner from Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing, the jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.35 billion with a cash value of $659.5 million.

No ticket won the grand prize in Wednesday's Powerball drawing, and so that jackpot increased to an estimated $124 million with a cash option of $68.2 million. The next drawing is Saturday at 10:59 p.m.

Ready to try your luck with Mega Millions? Here's everything you need to know.

What are the Mega Millions winning numbers?

The winning numbers from Tuesday's drawing were 8, 24, 30, 45, 61 and the Mega Ball was 12. The Megaplier was 4X.

Although there were no jackpot winners, there were six Match 5 $1 million winners in Massachusetts, North Carolina, New York, Wisconsin and two in California. There was one Match 5 with a Megaplier winner from Texas.

When is the next Mega Millions drawing?

The next drawing is Friday, Aug. 4, at 11 p.m. In Delaware, you can purchase tickets until 9:45 p.m. that day for a chance to win.

You can purchase tickets until 10:45 p.m. in New Jersey and 9:59 p.m. in Pennsylvania.

Drawings are every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m.

How to play the Mega Millions

Mega Millions tickets cost $2 per play. 

There are nine total ways to win a prize, from the jackpot to $2. 

Players can pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers: five different numbers from the white balls numbered 1-70 and one number from the gold balls numbered 1-25.

  • 5 + 1 = Jackpot.
  • 5 + 0 = $1 million.
  • 4 + 1 = $10,000.
  • 4 + 0 = $500.
  • 3 + 1 = $200.
  • 3 + 0 = $10.
  • 2 + 1= $10.
  • 1 + 1 = $4.
  • 0 + 1 = $2.

You win the jackpot by matching all six winning numbers in a drawing. 

You can either pick your lucky numbers yourself or select Easy Pick or Quick Pick and have the numbers auto-drawn. If you can't make up your mind, the Mega Millions website has a random number generator.

What is the Megaplier?

Most states offer the Megaplier feature, which increases non-jackpot prizes from two, three, four and five times.

It costs an additional $1 per play. 

Before each regular Mega Millions drawing, the Megaplier is drawn. From a pool of 15 balls, five are marked with "2X," three with "4X" and one with "5X."

What are the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot?

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are about 1 in 303 million, and the odds of winning the $1 million prize are 1 in 12.6 million. 

The overall chance of winning any prize is 1 in 24.