The Mega Millions jackpot has climbed to an estimated $555 million for tonight’s drawing, Friday, November 13, at 11 p.m. ET, with a cash option of $235.2 million. No ticket matched all six numbers in Tuesday night’s draw, when the prize stood at $529 million, so the jackpot rolls over for a Friday the 13th drawing that will be watched across the country.
Tuesday’s winning numbers were 2, 18, 25, 30 and 65, with Mega Ball 22, according to the official Mega Millions site. Two tickets matched all five white balls and missed only the Mega Ball, winning $1 million each, and one of those players had added the Megaplier, turning the prize into $4 million. Tickets cost $5 per play, and drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. ET.
What the Winner Would Keep
The advertised $555 million is the annuity value, paid out over 30 years in annual payments that rise by 5 percent each year, according to LotteryUSA. A single winner who takes the one-off cash option would receive $235.2 million before taxes. After federal tax, that works out to about $148 million in a state with no lottery tax, or about $123 million in New York, according to tax estimates from Bits and Odds based on Mega Millions and California Lottery figures.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 290,472,336, and the odds of winning any prize are about 1 in 23, according to the game’s published figures. At this jackpot level, a $5 ticket is worth about $1.83 before tax on a purely mathematical basis, according to the same analysis, which still leaves the ticket a losing bet on average.
A Friday the 13th Draw
Friday the 13th is a fitting date for a lottery draw, and the timing is no accident of the calendar: the jackpot has now rolled over through several draws since the last big win, building from $529 million on Tuesday to $555 million tonight. Players have until shortly before the 11 p.m. ET draw to buy a ticket, and winners are advised to sign the back of a winning ticket and check their state’s claim rules before coming forward.
Powerball players have their own big draw to look forward to, with that jackpot at an estimated $63 million for Saturday night after Wednesday’s numbers came up 8, 42, 45, 51 and 57 with Powerball 17. For tonight, though, the Mega Millions prize is the one to watch, and the advice is the same as ever: play for fun, set a limit, and remember that the odds favour the house by an enormous margin.
