The Mega Millions winning numbers for this Friday's draw are - yet to be revealed. The six lucky numbers of the winning ticket will be announced at exactly 11 p.m. EST this Friday, February 28, 2014. With people across the nation getting more excited to grab the jackpot prize after the Mega Millions lottery created two mega-millionaires with a staggering US$648 million jackpot prize, the multi-state Mega Millions jackpot has risen to US$216 million while Powerball game has increased to US$50 million after no lucky winner came forward with the winning numbers. As the jackpot continues to rise, sales for the tickets have also skyrocketed, with Arizona lottery officials anticipating as much as 5,000 additional ticket sales today following Tuesday's draw.
"The vast majority of our sales happen the day of the drawing," said Virginia Lottery Executive Director Paula Otto regarding the sales of Mega Millions tickets. "We know there will be more sales today than Saturday, Sunday and Monday combined." The executive director also shared that ticket sales dramatically increase the nearer the date of the draw is since most Americans like to buy Mega Millions tickets at the last minute. She also explained that most people follow the draws and estimate the final jackpot first before purchasing the tickets.
MLive confirmed that no jackpot winner was drawn for the Friday, February 25 Mega Millions draw, pulling up Friday's jackpot to $216 million. The same can be said for Powerball, which has climbed to $50 million after no person came forward with the winning ticket. However, according to the Mega Millions official website, two lucky tickets purchased in Arizona and Maryland for the multi-state lottery game managed to match 5 numbers to the winning numbers, taking home $1 million each. The winning numbers for the Tuesday draw were 12-18-25-35-66-15 and the Megaplier was 5.
The Michigan Lottery Executive Director announced that there was one major winner for Feb. 25's Mega Millions draw. However, the lucky winner matched 4 White Balls with both the Gold Mega Ball and the Megaplier, taking home $25,000. Four other Michigan ticket holders matched 4 White Balls, plus the Gold Mega Ball, and earned himself $5,000. More than 36,000 Michigan players won at least $2 and more than 64,000 players won $1 each.
Karen Bach, Director of Budget, Products, and Communication for Arizona Lottery, previously said that although ticket sales have undeniably increased the odds of winning remains the same. However everyone's luck will be tested in today's draw, with only the lucky winning six numbers eligible to take home the jackpot prize of $216 million. Tickets are sold in 42 states including the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands for only $1, so it won't be surprising if we will be having a winner or a group of winners after tonight's Mega Millions draw.
In playing the Mega Millions draw, a player must choose six numbers; five of which are from 1 to 75 while the remaining one is referred to as the Mega Ball and is only chosen from 1 to 15. If all of the numbers on the ticket of the player are the same digits flashed after the Mega Millions draw, then he is bringing home the total jackpot prize. However, the likelihood of winning the Mega Millions jackpot prize is 1 in over 259 million. On the other hand, there are also second-place prizes for tickets with five winning numbers. The second place prize is $1 million.
The Mega Millions winning numbers are drawn every Tuesday and Friday at around 10:45 p.m. EST. Official results of the day's draw are posted shortly after 11 p.m. EST on the main webpage of the Mega Millions Lottery. Winnings are delivered in two options: one-time cash payment or in 30 separate payments.
For Mega Millions players, you can check out today's Mega Millions winning numbers draw through this free live stream link. You can also catch the direct results for tonight's Mega Millions draw through this link here.
