The $1.28 billion jackpot for Friday's Mega Millions drawing is now the second highest in the lottery game's 20-year history and the nation's third-largest lottery prize.
Why it matters: Americans have wagered hundreds of millions of dollars on lottery tickets just in the past two days, catapulting a U.S. lottery jackpot to more than $1 billion for only the fourth time ever, Axios' Felix Salmon writes.
State of play: If no one wins the Mega Millions jackpot Friday, lottery officials said the prize could potentially grow to $1.7 billion for the Aug. 2 drawing, which would make it the nation’s largest lottery prize.
The winning numbers in Friday’s drawing are 13, 36, 45, 57 and 67 with the Mega Ball 14.
Keep dreaming because the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 303 million per ticket.
By the numbers: The jackpot has rolled 29 times since April as of Tuesday, when the grand prize was $830 million.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot was $1.537 billion on Oct. 23, 2018, lottery officials said.
A Mega Millions ticket costs $2 but players in most states can "add the Megaplier for an additional $1 to multiply their non-jackpot prizes."
Meanwhile, out of each $2 ticket, roughly 35 cents goes to non-jackpot prizes, about 75 cents goes to fund the jackpot, and the remaining 90 cents goes to the government.
Lottery players can pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers — five different numbers from 1 to 70 (the white balls) and one number from 1 to 25 (the gold Mega Ball).
Mega Millions drawings are held in Atlanta at 11pm Tuesday and Friday, which is 8pm PT.
Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with drawings held each Tuesday and Friday.
The deadline to purchase tickets for Friday's drawing varies by state because Mega Millions tickets are sold by individual lotteries.
Mega Millions tickets are available to buy online in 10 states and Washington, D.C.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new estimates from lottery officials and Friday's winning numbers.