Mega Millions jackpot jumps to an estimated $1.55 billion, the third-largest in lottery history

The Mega Millions jackpot has risen to an estimated $1.55 billion — in what would mark the largest in the game's history — after no winning tickets were sold in Friday's drawing. If the estimate holds, it would also mark the third-largest overall jackpot in U.S. lottery history. 

The winning numbers Friday were 11, 30, 45, 52 and 56, and a Mega Ball of 20.

There has not been a Mega Millions jackpot winner since April 18. The next drawing is Tuesday night. 

A single winning ticket for the upcoming drawing would have the choice of taking an estimated lump sum payment of $757.2 million before taxes, or going with the annuity option. That consists of an immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that eventually equal the full jackpot minus taxes.

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are approximately one in 302.58 million.

Since the last time there was a jackpot winner, at least 62 tickets matching all five white balls — which earns a prize of at least $1 million — have been sold, Mega Millions said Saturday.

There have now been five Mega Millions jackpots north of $1 billion. If the estimated number for Tuesday's jackpot holds, it would just surpass the previous Mega Millions record jackpot of $1.537 billion which was set in October of 2018 and claimed by a single winning ticket sold in South Carolina. In January, a winning ticket for a $1.348 billion jackpot was sold in Maine.  

The Los Angeles area has seen a string of lottery luck of late. The winning ticket for February's $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot, the largest in U.S. lottery history, was sold at a gas station in Altadena, a city in Los Angeles County.  

Last month, a single winning ticket was sold in downtown Los Angeles for the $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot, the sixth-largest in U.S. lottery history. The winner has yet to be identified publicly.

The second largest jackpot ever, meanwhile, a $1.586 billion Powerball grand prize in January 2016, was split among three ticket holders in California, Florida and Tennessee.  

Mega Millions tickets, which are $2 each, are sold in all states except Alabama, Utah, Alaska, Hawaii and Nevada. They're also sold in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. According to the game, half the proceeds from each ticket sold remain in the state where the sale occurred, with that money going to support "designated good causes and retailer commissions."

Drawings take place at 11 p.m. Eastern on Tuesdays and Fridays.

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