Mega Millions Jackpot Could Exceed Record $656 Million
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – After no ticket matched the six numbers to win the Mega Millions lottery on Friday, the jackpot could top last year's record total of $656 million.
Friday's drawing was for $425 million and the jackpot was raised Saturday to $550 million for Tuesday's drawing. CBSNews.com reported sales have jumped as much as 20 percent in some states and a final spike is expected Tuesday.
As of Friday, players had bought enough tickets to cover roughly half of the 259 million possible number combinations, a Virginia lottery official said.
Several people beat the odds over the weekend of 1 in 18,492,203.57 to win one million dollars in the Mega Millions game. But, the odds of hitting the jackpot are pretty astronomical.
The chances of a single player hitting the five numbers plus the mega millions number are 1 in 258,890,850. For a comparison, your chances of being hit by lightning in the U.S. is approximately one in 700,000.
