The opportunity for a massive payout is still up for grabs, as the Mega Millions jackpot continues to go unclaimed and now climbs even higher.
The $415 million jackpot drew no winning tickets on Friday night, confirmed by Virginia spokesman John Hagerty (via ABC News). That means the total drawing goes up to a whopping $449 million, so be prepared for the onslaught of office pools over the next few weeks.
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If you are one of the lucky winners, you could always go with the lump sum cash option of $313 million, or have your payments spread out over time, which is called the annuity option. Basically, the lottery gives you one payment immediately and then spreads the rest out over 29 smaller annual payments. They’ve recently made changes to the play that has it starting lower up front and then increasing by 5% every year, so your payments increase alongside the rising cost of living.
The odds of winning the jackpot are quite steep, with a 1 in 258,890,850 chance, though you have a 1 in 14.7 chance of winning something. Mega Millions is available in 43 states, and you can head to their official site to see which states participate.
