Lottery players will have another opportunity to win a large Mega Millions jackpot on Friday night, ending a stretch of over three months without a jackpot winner. The estimated prize amount is $910 million, which has been accumulating since the last jackpot winner on April 18. There have been 28 consecutive drawings without a winner since then.
This jackpot is now the eighth-largest in the history of the United States. In addition, it comes just over a week after an individual in Los Angeles won a $1.08 billion Powerball prize, which was the sixth-largest in U.S. history. The identity of the winner still remains a mystery.
The reason lottery jackpots reach such high amounts is because the odds of winning are extremely low. In the case of Mega Millions, the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 302.6 million.
If there is a sole winner and they choose the annuity option, the prize of $910 million would be paid out over 30 years in annual installments. However, it’s more common for winners to choose the lump sum payment, which for Friday night’s drawing would be an estimated $464.2 million.
Winners are also subject to federal taxes, and many states also tax lottery winnings.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.