MARK RALSTON | AFP | Getty Images
At some point, whether it’s Friday night or later, someone will win the Mega Millions jackpot.
It probably won’t be you.
With the odds stacked against players who combine all six numbers needed to reach the main lode, the lottery game’s maximum jackpot reached an estimated $ 970 million for Friday night’s draw. The cash option – which most winners choose instead of an annuity – is $ 716.3 million (before taxes). The jackpot is also the third largest in the history of the United States lottery.
Friday night’s draw will take place a few days after another lottery game has won a large amount of money: a ticket purchased in Maryland hit the $ 731.1 million Powerball jackpot ($ 546.8 million in option at money), which ranks as the sixth biggest prize of all time.
“We know that players love big jackpots and, when the numbers are so big, it becomes a national phenomenon,” said Gordon Medenica, Maryland lottery director and principal director of Mega Millions.
“Everyone wants to dream of what they would do if they won,” said Medenica.
The Mega Millions jackpot has been rising since mid-September, when someone won $ 120 million ($ 95.4 million in cash) and the main prize was reset to $ 20 million. It is 37 weeks in which no one hits all six numbers in draws twice a week, marking the longest period of all time without a winner, according to lottery officials.
Each Mega Millions ticket has about 1 in 302 million chances of winning the jackpot. For Powerball, it is a little better: 1 in 292 million.
Even if you buy multiple tickets, you will not move the needle much. To have a 50-50 chance of winning the Mega Millions jackpot – that is, the same chances when you flip a coin once – you would have to buy more than 151 million different number combinations. Even then, you would not be able to guarantee that you are the only winner.
More from Personal Finance:
Here is a 12-month roadmap for financial well-being
IRS delays start of tax reporting season to February 12
A decade-by-decade guide to retirement planning
In fact, the largest jackpot in the history of the United States – a $ 1.59 billion Powerball prize in 2016 – was divided in three ways.
For the Friday night draw, lottery officials estimate that 40% of all possible number combinations will be played.
Of course, you can win in the game without hitting the jackpot. The last Mega Millions draw, held on Tuesday night, produced about 5.2 million winning tickets, according to lottery data. This included two winners of $ 2 million each, 11 winners of $ 1 million each and 139 winners who won at least $ 10,000.
Once the Mega Millions jackpot is won, it will be reset to $ 20 million.