The Mega Millions draw on Friday the 13th did not produce a jackpot winner. The jackpot was $225 million with the cash option at $161 million, but nobody bought the ticket containing the lucky numbers:
- 17, 21, 35, 40, and 53, and the Megaball number was 11.
With no jackpot winner in the last draw, Pennsylvania lottery players will now get a chance to try their hand at winning an even bigger jackpot on Tuesday August 17. The new estimated jackpot is set at $242 million with a cash option of $173.2 million.
The Friday draw did not produce any other big winners either. There were 17 people who won $10,000 each, while five lucky lottery participants won $20,000 thanks to the 2x Megaplier.
The search for the next big winner will thus continue. The last Mega Millions jackpot was awarded back in June, when a lucky player from Illinois bought the winning ticket at a gas station in Crestwood. It was for a much smaller but still sizeable amount of $56 million with the cash option of $38.7 million.
Mega Millions Lottery in Pennsylvania
The Mega Millions lottery is one of the largest and most popular lotteries in the United States, available in 45 states as well as U.S. Virgin Islands and District of Columbia. The Pennsylvania Lottery is a part of the large multi-state lottery network and people can buy tickets in the state at physical retail locations and online, via the PA lottery website.
To participate, players need to pick five numbers from the pool of numbers ranging from 1 to 70. Additionally, there is the sixth, Megaball number, ranging from 1 to 25. To score the main jackpot, a lucky winner needs to correctly guess all five numbers plus the Megaball number.
The price per ticket is $2, but Pennsylvania is one of the states that also offers the Megaplier option. By paying an extra $1 per play, players can opt in for the Megaplier that is drawn before the start of the main draw, ranging from 2x to 5x. This multiplier is then applied to all non-jackpot winnings.
In addition to the main jackpot, Mega Millions participants can also win the following prizes (not accounting for the Megaplier):
- $1,000,000 for matching five numbers without the Megaball
- $10,000 for matching four numbers and the Megaball
- $500 for matching four numbers without the Megaball
- $200 for three numbers and the Megaball
- $10 for matching three numbers
- $10 for two numbers and the Megaball
- $4 for any number and the Megaball
- $2 for correctly guessing the Megaball number
Megaball draws take place twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. If there is no jackpot winner, money is rolled over to the next draw, and this continues until the jackpot is awarded. Winners have the option of taking the full amount paid in annuities or going for a lump sum payment, in which case the jackpot amount is decreased.
Your chances of winning any prize in Mega Millions are 1 in 24. The odds of winning the main jackpot are quite long though, at 1 to 302,575,350. The odds of guessing the five numbers without the Megaball correctly are 1 in 12.6 million.
The Pennsylvania Lottery had sold jackpot winning tickets in the past. In fact, just recently, a Mega Millions ticket sold at a 7-Eleven in Middletown was good for a jackpot of over $500 million. Prior to this, the PA Lottery sold two Mega Millions jackpot tickets – one in 2014 and one in 2015.
Those looking to try their hand at winning the massive jackpot still have plenty of time to purchase their tickets for the Tuesday draw. As mentioned, tickets are also available via the PA Lottery official site as well so players can pick their lucky numbers from the comfort of their homes without having to visit any of the retail locations in the state.
Plus, those who still do not have an online account with the Pennsylvania Lottery can claim a generous welcome bonus, consisting of $5 in free funds and a 100% match deposit of up to $500.
