Mega Millions Jackpot Survives, Soars to $374M for Next Drawing

Mega Millions is one of the most popular lottery games available to millions of Americans across the United States. Although many players tried their luck in the most recent drawing on Friday, nobody was able to guess correctly the winning numbers.

The jackpot on Friday was more than $350 million. Yet, nobody matched the winning numbers 6, 7, 24, 44, 54 and the Mega ball number 13. This enabled the jackpot to continue growing, getting closer to the mind-blowing sum of $400 million.

The next Mega Millions drawing is scheduled for Tuesday, August 6 at 11 PM ET. After the grand prize survived Friday’s draw, it increased to an estimated $374 million for the upcoming draw. The aforementioned sum can be collected in full in case the lucky winner selects the game’s annuity option.

In case a fortunate player matches all winning numbers from the upcoming drawing, they can also select a lump cash sum option. As is usual, the lump cash sum option is lower and in this particular case, the jackpot would decrease to nearly $184 million. While that’s a figure far from the mind-blowing $374 million, it would undoubtedly change the life of anyone who is lucky enough to win.

Two Lottery Players Missed the Jackpot

Despite the survival of the Mega Millions jackpot, two players nearly missed the grand prize on Friday. One lottery player from Washington and one from California managed to match five winning numbers. This granted them a second-tier prize of $1 million each.

Regretfully, nobody matched the five numbers along with the Megaplier option. Considering the 4x Megaplier on Friday, a winner would’ve won $4 million instead of the standard $1 million prize for matching five winning numbers.

Another 22 lucky players matched four winning numbers together with the gold Mega ball. This granted them a prize of $10,000 each. Five fortunate players secured a Megaplier prize of $40,000 each by matching four white balls along with the Mega ball.

Within the lower prize tier, 469 people matched four winning numbers, securing a $500 prize each. Another 95 players matched four winning numbers but paid extra for the Megaplier option which granted them a Megaplier prize of $2,000 each.