WASHINGTON — The Mega Millions jackpot is even closer to a billion dollars after 22 drawings in a row with no winner. No one won big Friday night, allowing the jackpot to surge to an estimated $785 million.
The winning numbers for Friday's drawing were 1-3-6-44-51 and Mega Ball 7.
While the current jackpot is set to roll into the new year, one player is waking up a million dollars richer. Mega Millions said one ticket sold in Ohio matched the five white balls to win $1 million.
The nearly $800 million jackpot is for the annuity option. The cash option, which most winners choose, rose to $395 million.
Players must match all five numbers and the gold Mega Ball number to win the jackpot. Players face astronomical odds for a jackpot win: 1 in 302.5 million.
The next drawing is Tuesday, Jan. 3.
While $685 million is a life-changing amount of money, it still pales in comparison to some of the largest jackpots for Mega Millions and Powerball this year.
After months of hype, a single Powerball ticket in California won the record-setting $2.04 billion jackpot in November. The winners have not yet come forward or been identified. California law requires winners to come forward publicly, but they have a year to do so.
Over the summer, a near-record $1.377 billion Mega Millions jackpot had Americans in a lottery frenzy in July. A winner in Illinois eventually put the run to an end and matched all six numbers to take home the grand prize. Two people came forward to claim it, but chose to stay anonymous, something that is allowed in Illinois but not every state.
In October, the jackpot climbed again to nearly half-a-billion dollars. Two ticket-holders in California and Florida matched all six Mega Millions numbers, splitting an estimated prize of $494 million between the two of them.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.