Hitting Wednesday Night's Mega Millions Jackpot Will Win You $418M

The Mega Millions Jackpot drawing tonight could be worth as much as $418 million for some lucky [...]

By Michael Hein

The Mega Millions Jackpot drawing tonight could be worth as much as $418 million for some lucky player, while the Powerball jackpot is estimated at $440 million.

Officials say this may be the first time both prizes were over $400 million at the same time.

Last night's Mega Millions drawing was tempting enough, with a jackpot of $361 million and a one-time cash option of $225 million. The winning numbers were 1, 42, 47, 64, and 70, and the Mega Ball number was 22. Officials announced shortly after the drawing that no winning tickets were sold, driving tonight's jackpot up even higher.

The odds of winning tonight are pretty low — with a one in 259 million chance for the Mega Millions jackpot, and a one in 292 million chance for Powerball. For the truly ambitious, it's worth noting that the odds of winning both at once are are about one in 75 quadrillion, according to data scientists at Allstate.

The average American spends about $200 a year betting on those odds, though it varies by state.

Some, like Massachusetts, range as high as $735 per year. As always, tonight's enormous jackpots are drawing unusual attention to the games, which have lottery skeptics and opponents sharing statistics and stories about winners.

While one in a few hundred million Americans might win the lottery, the odds of being struck by lighting are one in 13,500. Meanwhile, the odds of getting into a car accident are just one in 645 — a risk most people take every single day.

Stories about lottery winners who squandered their winnings are also re-circulating ahead of the big drawing, as social media clings to hope of striking gold.


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