Here are the winning numbers for the $743 million Mega Millions jackpot
The summer is heating up and Mega Millions lottery ticket buyers are shelling out big bucks for a shot at a big prize. The Mega Millions jackpot for Friday night’s drawing has climbed to an eye-popping $743 million, the 10th-largest in the game’s history.
The numbers for the drawing were: white balls 2, 5, 42, 44 and 60, and the gold Mega Ball was 1.
Video above: Mega Millions ticket costs, jackpots rising
It’s the 37th consecutive drawing since the jackpot reset on March 20. The jackpot grew by $36 million from Tuesday night’s drawing.
If a lucky player wins the jackpot, they can choose a one-time cash payment of $323.4 million or opt for 29 annual payments to receive the full jackpot prize.
The previous-largest Mega Millions jackpot won this year came in March, when an anonymous player in Illinois won $536 million.
Last April, Mega Millions changed its game format and increased the price of a ticket, promising better odds of winning and bigger prizes.
Mega Millions raised the ticket price from $2 to $5 and said the new game’s average jackpot was expected to be $800 million or more, up from $450 million. It also increased the jackpot start to $50 million, up from $20 million and reduced the number of Mega Balls in play to 24.
