For the first time ever, the nation’s two major games — Powerball and Mega Millions — offer jackpots in excess of $300 million.
In the seven years since all U.S. lotteries began selling both Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, both games have never offered prizes so large at the same time, according to the Associated Press.
Mega Millions is an estimated $382 million, the game’s sixth-largest jackpot ever. The next drawing is Friday night. No ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night, though four tickets matched five white balls to win $1 million.
And though no person has won the jackpot since the last winner on April 28, there have been 51 Match 5 winners of $1 million.
The next Powerball drawing is Saturday night with the chance for an estimated $356 million.
Of course, even with more options for giant payouts, the odds of winning a jackpot remain abysmal at 1 in 258.9 million for Mega Millions and 1 in 292.2 million for Powerball.
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