A lucky lotto winner may get the chance to celebrate the holidays some $825 million richer, assuming someone actually hits the massive Mega Millions jackpot this week.
During Tuesday's Mega Millions drawing no one hit all six numbers needed to win the $740 million jackpot. As a result, the jackpot has rolled over, growing to $825 million for its next drawing, which will be on Friday.
This jackpot has been steadily growing since the last Mega Millions win on September 10. That jackpot reached $810 million before someone hit it.
If only one person wins, they can choose between receiving the millions as an annuity — receiving an initial payment and then an additional 29 yearly payments — or as a lump-sum payout.
Typically, winners choose the cash, according to CBS News.
A lump cash sum from Friday's jackpot would likely be around $382.2 million, according to Mega Millions.
If a single person wins the jackpot, it would be the lottery's largest prize ever handed out in December and the seventh largest in Mega Millions history.
Should multiple players win — which is always a possibility — the prize will be divided amongst them.
If no one wins on Friday, the Mega Millions jackpot will roll over again for a drawing a few days later on Christmas Eve. According to Mega Millions, 13 jackpots have been won during the month of December since the game began in 2022.
Three of the jackpots were won just after Christmas Day, and the other 10 were won before the holiday. No one has ever won a jackpot on Christmas Day, even though there have been six Christmas drawings since 2007.
As nice as it would be to finish out the year a few million dollars richer, the sad reality is that the odds are very, very stacked against anyone winning the Mega Millions jackpot.
While lotto enthusiasts will no doubt insist that someone needs to win — which is true — that also means many, many, many people need to lose.
According to the Mega Millions website, the odds of hitting the jackpot — matching all the numbers plus the mega ball — are 1 in 302,575,350.
