DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Mega Millions players will have another chance Friday night to end months of losing and finally win a jackpot that has grown to $1.35 billion.
Plenty of people have won smaller prizes in the lottery game, but no one has matched all six numbers and won the grand prize since Oct. 14. Those 25 straight drawings without a winner have allowed the top prize to roll over and grow larger for three months.
It’s now the fourth-largest lottery prize in U.S. history. If there isn’t a winner Friday night, the jackpot will inch closer to the record $2.04 billion Powerball prize won last November in California.
The long stretch without a Mega Millions jackpot winner is because of the game’s steep odds of 1 in 302.6 million.
The $1.35 billion prize is for a winner who chooses an annuity with annual payments over 29 years. Winners almost always take the cash option, which for Friday night’s drawing would be an estimated $707.9 million.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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This story has been corrected to say the Mega Millions jackpot is the fourth-largest in U.S. history, not the fifth.