The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, according to lottery officials.
The Mega Millions jackpot has surpassed $1 billion after no tickets matched the six numbers drawn on Christmas Eve. That means the estimated prize for Friday's drawing is $1.15 billion, which could be the fifth-largest prize in the history of the game.
“We know that many people will probably receive tickets for Friday's drawing as Christmas gifts. Well, imagine what a gift it would be if you ended up with a ticket worth a jackpot of $1.15 billion,” Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement Wednesday.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, while the odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 24, according to lottery officials.
Tickets for the game are sold in 45 states, along with Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mega Millions tickets cost $2 each. Half of the revenue from the sale of each ticket remains in the state where the ticket was sold. Drawings take place at 11 pm Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Fridays.
“I can't think of a better way to celebrate the holidays, whether it's Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice or any other way people choose to celebrate the season, than by helping fulfill the dreams that come with a prize like this and the prizes that will be won at all levels of the game,” Johnston said.