NEW YORK (WABC) — The numbers for an estimated $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot were drawn and now all hopeful players can do is wait until word of a possible winner.
The numbers drawn late Friday night were: 30, 43, 45, 46, 61 and gold Mega Ball 14.
The jackpot is the second largest in Mega Millions history!
The chances of winning a Mega Millions drawing are slim at one in nearly 303 million.
Don’t be discouraged by those odds. Friday the 13th is the day many play and win. So far, six people have won the lottery on a Friday the 13th.
Michigan has been particularly lucky with Mega Millions jackpots on Friday the 13th, winning four of them (June 2008, May 2011, June 2014 and October 2017). That 2017 jackpot was shared with a winner in Rhode Island. Other jackpots on Friday the 13th have been won in New York (March 2009) and Ohio (November 2015). None of them, however, came close in size to the estimated $1.35 billion up for grabs.
Even though no one came out of Tuesday night’s drawing a billionaire, three people did win $3 million, including someone in New York and another in Connecticut.
People in New York and New Jersey also held tickets worth $1 million.
The last time someone won the top prize was on Oct. 14. Since then, there have been 25 straight drawings without anyone snagging the jackpot.
“So you are 1,363 times more likely to get hit by lightning than to win the lottery,” Professor Bruce Torff said.
Torff said you are also 27,000 times more likely to die in a plane crash or 1,210 times more likely to die by getting hit by a meteorite than win the lotter.
Here is a look at the 10 largest U.S. jackpots that have been won and the states where the winning tickets were sold:
1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 8, 2022 (one ticket, from California)
2. $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)
3. $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)
4. $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
5. $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)
6. $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin)
7. $758.7 million, Powerball, Aug. 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts)
8. $731.1 million, Powerball, Jan. 20, 2021 (one ticket, from Maryland)
9. $699.8 million, Powerball, Oct. 4, 2021 (one ticket, from California)
10. $687.8 million, Powerball, Oct. 27, 2018 (two tickets, from Iowa and New York)
RELATED: Here’s what you could buy if you win
The credit for the recent big prizes is actually due to math — and more difficult odds.
In the fall of 2017, lottery officials approved changes to Mega Millions that significantly lengthened the odds from one in 258.9 million to one in 302.6 million. They made similar changes to Powerball in October 2015, worsening the odds from one in 175.2 million to one in 292.2 million.
The idea was that by making jackpots less common, ticket revenue could build up week after week, creating giant prizes that would attract attention and pull in more players who had grown blasé about $100 million or $200 million top prizes.
In August 2021, Powerball also added a third weekly drawing, which enabled the jackpot to roll over and grow even more quickly as people had more chances to play, and lose. Mega Millions has stuck with the two weekly drawings.
Thanks to those moves, nine of the top 10 largest lottery prizes have been won since 2017.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Powerball drawings are also streamed here on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 p.m.
Mega Millions drawings are streamed on Tuesday and Friday at 11:00 p.m.
The New York Lottery is North America’s largest and most profitable, contributing billions of dollars to help support education in New York State.
Revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. According to the New York lottery, the formula takes into account both a school district’s size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.
For more information about the New York lottery and to see lottery results, please visit nylottery.ny.gov..
New Yorkers struggling with a gambling addiction, or who know someone who is, can find help by calling the State’s toll-free, confidential HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or by texting HOPENY (467369). Standard text rates may apply.
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