After 29 consecutive draws without a winner, the draw for the nation’s third-largest lottery prize ballooned to astronomical proportions.
It’s now time for US lottery players to check their numbers to see how they’ll spend the $1.28 billion (£1.05 billion) Mega Millions jackpot.
On Friday, the nation’s third-largest lottery reward was drawn.
It reached such enormous proportions after 29 straight draws without a winner.
Friday night’s winning numbers were 13-36-45-57-67, with a Mega Ball of 14.
The lottery jackpot is the largest in nearly four years.
The winner can choose to receive the $1.28 billion prize in annuity payments over 30 years, or in cash for an estimated $747.2 million (£613.3 million). Almost all jackpot winners opt for the cash option.
Those who choose the top prize may eventually afford to buy the world’s largest yacht twice. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, owns the 590-foot megayacht.
The probability of winning the prize is one in 302.5 million.
If no one wins the jackpot on Friday night, lottery officials expect it to expand to an estimated $1.7 billion (£1.4 billion) for the next draw on Tuesday, making it the country’s highest lottery reward.
The greatest National Lottery pot in UK history, £195 million, was won in May of this year.
It beat Europe’s previous record jackpot of €220 million (£185 million) won in France in October 2021.
