to protect yourself from scammers fraudulently using the Mega Millions name.
One lucky Mega Millions ticket holder in Florida has won a $450 million jackpot after matching all six numbers in the prize. Choosing the cash option would bring home $281 million.
The winning numbers drawn Friday just after 11 p.m. Eastern time were 28, 30, 39, 59, 70 and Gold Mega Ball 10. It is the fourth-largest jackpot in the 15 year history of Mega Millions and the 10th largest prize in any U.S lottery.
A total of eight Match 5 winning tickets also were sold in Friday's drawing -- one each in California, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Virginia, and two each in Oklahoma and Texas. More than 21 million tickets were sold for all the prizes.
The Mega Millions jackpot now resets to its starting amount of $40 million ($25 million cash) for the next drawing on January 9.
Powerball jackpot jumps to $570 million
Lottery officials also increased the jackpot of Powerball, the other national lottery game, to $570 million. That drawing is Saturday night.
The jackpots refer to the annuity options for both games, in which payments are made over 29 years. Most winners opt for cash options, which would be $358.5 million for Powerball.
Ahead of the drawing, Mega Millions players rushed out to snap up tickets, some in areas facing frigid temperatures after a Northeast snowstorm.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot was 1 in 302.5 million. Powerball has odds of 1 in 292.2 million.
Both games are played in 44 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico also participates in Powerball.
The average American spends about $200 a year on lottery tickets, although residents of some states spend far more. According to a study by LendEDU, the average Massachusetts resident spends $735 annually on lottery tickets, while those in Delaware or New York are likely spending about $400 a year, or $33 per month.
One down, one to go.
After 23 straight drawings with no grand prize winner, one winning ticket was sold for the $450 million Mega Millions jackpot in Friday night's drawing, according to the Mega Millions website.
The winning numbers were 28, 30, 39, 59, 70 and the Mega Millions ball was 10.
The winning ticket was sold in Florida, according to the website.
If you're not one of the lucky winners, fear not. There's a chance to land an even bigger payday with the $570 million Powerball jackpot. The next drawing for that game will be Saturday at 11 p.m. ET.
Powerball and Mega Millions are the largest lottery games in the country, but their jackpots don't usually grow to such staggering heights at the same time.
But it could become a more common phenomenon. The rules for both games were recently tweaked -- Powerball in 2015 and Mega Millions in October 2017 -- to give the games longer odds.
Smaller chances of snagging the jackpots means the prize pools have a chance to grow bigger before a winning ticket is sold. Meanwhile, the games can attract more players by brandishing their eye-popping prizes.
Powerball grabbed headlines a couple years ago when its grand prize grew to nearly $1.6 billion. It marked the largest lottery prize in history. Three winning ticket holders eventually claimed the prize in a January 2016 drawing.
And thanks to the October rule change, Mega Millions now has slighter worse odds than Powerball.
Specifically, the chances of holding a Mega Millions ticket with the winning numbers is about 1 in 302.6 million, while the odds of winning Powerball's jackpot stand at 1 in 292.2 million.
CLOSE The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in more than 302 million. You have a better chance at all these other extraordinary things. USA TODAY
A Mega Millions lottery ticket. (Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)
A winning Mega Millions lottery ticket in Florida matched all the numbers for a jackpot worth an estimated $450 million, a lottery official said early Saturday.
Friday night's Mega Millions was the fourth-largest jackpot of its kind. The winning numbers drawn were: 28, 30, 39, 59 and 70, with a Mega Ball of 10 (and a Megaplier option at 3x).
“Congratulations to Florida on their big jackpot win,” said Mega Millions Lead Director and Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director Gordon Medenica. ”This has been an exciting run for Mega Millions players and a great way to start off the new year!"
It was not immediately known where the winning ticket was sold.
The highest jackpot was $640 million in 2012, when three players in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland shared the prize.
Other big jackpots were $648 million in 2013 and $540 in 2016.
Tickets cost $2 and the balls are drawn Tuesday and Friday nights at 11 p.m. ET.
To win the jackpot, one must match the first five balls (1-70) and the Mega Ball (1-25). Your odds: 1 in 302,575,350.
According to statistics provided by the Texas Lottery, the most common gold Mega Ball number since Oct. 31, 2017 (when the game changed to its current format) is the No. 22 (three times).
The most common white balls: No. 42 (six times), and Nos. 1, 10, 22 and 28 (four times each). The game is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Meanwhile, the Powerball jackpot has topped $570 million. The Powerball drawing is Saturday night.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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