Mega Millions Jackpot Reaches $325 Million Ahead Of Friday's Draw; Two Win $2 Million In Prizes

The Mega Millions lottery jackpot has risen to a massive $325 million from the previous drawing's $300 million after nobody won the top prize on Tuesday night, Jan. 11.

The winning numbers that came up for the Mega Millions drawing held on Tuesday, Jan. 11, were 2, 3, 19, 52, 58. The Megaball was 16 and the Megaplier was 2x. The jackpot, at the time, was estimated to be around $300 million with a cash option of $206.7 million. However, since nobody matched all the six numbers in the drawing, the jackpot rose from $300 million to at least $325 million for Friday, Jan. 14’s drawing, Yahoo News reported.

Meanwhile, two tickets sold in Idaho and Tennessee matched all five white balls drawn on Tuesday and won a $1-million prize each. Since both players also played the Megaplier option in the game, their winnings increased to a total prize amount of $2 million.

The cash option for Friday, Jan. 14’s drawing is estimated to be around $224.1 million.

Mega Millions lottery players choose six numbers from two separate pools of numbers: five different numbers from 1 to 70 and one number from 1 to 25. In order to win the jackpot, a player has to match all these six numbers with the digits that come up in the drawing.

The Mega Millions jackpot has not had a winner since Oct. 22, 2021, when an Arizona family matched all six numbers in the drawing to claim a $108-million prize.

The Mega Millions ticket costs $2 per ticket and is drawn twice weekly on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m.

In a similar but unrelated incident, a Mega Millions lottery ticket that won $3 million was reportedly sold to a regular customer at a Westbrook convenience store, Latin Times reported.

The winner, a frequent patron at the Westbrook Market in Maine, reportedly won a $1 million lottery prize after he matched all five numbers drawn in the Mega Millions drawing. Since he opted for a “Megaplier,” which triples the prize amount, he won a total amount of $3 million before taxes.

The store received a $25,000 bonus for selling the ticket. The store owners said that the bonus money they received will be used for renovations at the store.