The prize for the ongoing Mega Millions lottery has swelled to $508 million, an award that would be the seventh largest in American lottery history if a winner claims the prize at the new drawing this Friday.
The multi-state lottery—which is played across 43 states and D.C.—said that no ticket matched the six numbers that were drawn on Tuesday night, resulting in the prize’s value increasing before the next potential jackpot, which will be offered on Friday. If a winner (or winners) are able to claim the correct six numbers this Friday, it would be the second-largest jackpot for the year. The largest-ever lottery prize was awarded in January 2016, when three tickets matched Powerball’s numbers to claim a $1.586 billion jackpot.
Mega Millions says the value of the prize has been increasing since Mega Millions was last won on March 8, when Washington’s Michael Burkett won a $157 million prize. The only other jackpot awarded this year by Mega Millions was a $169 million prize that was won in New York at the beginning of the year.
The record for Mega Millions is $656 million, which was shared by three winners in March 2012.
As CNBC notes, the odds of picking the correct numbers on five white balls and one yellow ball in the Mega Millions game are one in 259 million
