NEW YORK — Could we see another $1 billion lottery jackpot in the near future?
Both Mega Millions and Powerball lottery games have jackpots approaching half a billion dollars after long stretches with no grand prize winners. With no winner in Friday night's Mega Millions drawing, the jackpot climbs even higher.
The numbers drawn Friday night for a $410 million Mega Millions jackpot were 6, 11, 29, 36, 55 and Mega Ball 21.
Nobody won the grand prize, but two players in California and Texas matched five numbers to win $1 million with the Megaplier. The Texas winner got the 2X Megaplier for a ticket worth $2 million.
The next Mega Millions drawing is Tuesday with an estimated jackpot of $445 million.
In order to win the Mega Millions grand prize, a player needs to match all five numbers and the gold Mega Ball number. Players face astronomical odds for a jackpot win: 1 in 302.5 million.
The lump sum cash option for Friday night's drawing was $208.2 million. The cash option is what most lottery winners choose over an annual payment that increases each year.
This is the third time this year the Mega Millions jackpot has surpassed $400 million, according to Mega Millions.
A near-record $1.377 billion jackpot had Americans in a lottery frenzy in July until a winner in Illinois took home the grand prize. Two people came forward last month to claim that prize, but chose to stay anonymous.
Mega Millions losers have another shot this weekend at a huge stack of cash: The next Powerball drawing is Saturday, with an estimated jackpot of $378 million. That comes with a lump sum cash option of $198.7 million.