Let the lottery lunacy continue: No Mega Millions winner; jackpot surges to $1.6B

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The jackpot for Friday night’s Mega Millions prize has hit $1 billion and thousands of people are lining up to buy tickets (Oct 19)
APThe Mega Millions game at the Corner Market in Lyndhurst, Ohio.(Photo: Tony Dejak, AP)You still have a chance to win – big. Colossally, hugely, extraordinarily big. Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing did not yield a victor, pushing the historic jackpot to $1.6 billion and tying it with the largest lottery prize in U.S. history.The lucky Friday numbers were 15, 23, 53, 65, 70 and Mega Ball 7.The next lot of winning numbers will be announced on Tuesday at 11 p.m. ET.Winners can choose an immediate cash payment option of $904 million or receive the $1.6 billion prize over 29 years. And if you don’t want to wait until Tuesday, you can try your luck at Saturday night’s Powerball jackpot for a not-too-shabby $470 million. What are the odds of winning Mega Millions?Not that great. As of Thursday, they were one in 302 million. Overall chances of winning a prize for matching fewer than six numbers are one in 24, according to Mega Millions officials.AutoplayShow ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext SlideHow did the jackpot get so large?The semi-weekly Mega Millions winnings have been growing since July 24 when a group of 11 California office workers decided to play on a whim, winning $543 million. In 2017, lottery officials tweaked the rules to help give players the opportunity to win bigger prize amounts. How do I buy a ticket? It costs $2 to play the game and there are nine different ways to win a prize. You can play Mega Millions in 44 states along with Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. What if there’s a tie? If more than one person guesses the winning numbers, the jackpot will be divided proportionally. Follow Dalvin Brown on Twitter: @Dalvin_BrownRead or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/10/20/no-mega-millions-winner-jackpot-climbs-1-6-billion/1709316002/
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