What Time of Day Is the Mega Millions Drawing

Want a shot at  $475 million? The ninth-largest prize in Mega Millions history is up for grabs Tuesday night.

There was no jackpot-winning ticket on Friday, which means Tuesday's estimated jackpot is $475 million – or $319.4 million cash.

Mega Millions officials said it's the second time in the past two years the prize has reached this level.

"Since the jackpot was last won on February 16, there have been more than 16.4 million winning tickets at all prize levels, including 26 worth $1 million or more," officials said.

Two Mega Millions jackpots have been won so far this year – $96 million was won by a New York couple in February and $1.05 billion was won in Michigan in January.

The next drawing is at 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Looking to get in on the action? Here's everything you need to know about playing Mega Millions:

[ Hit the jackpot by downloading the Cincinnati.com app ]

How to play Mega Millions

When are the drawings?

Mega Millions drawings are held Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m.

What are the chances you'll win?

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350 and the odds of taking home $1 million by getting a match 5 are 1 in 12,607,306. The overall chance of winning any prize is 1 in 24.

How much does it cost?

Mega Millions tickets cost $2 per play.

Where do you buy tickets?

In Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana (and most other states) you can buy a Mega Millions ticket at local gas stations, convenience stores and supermarkets until 10:45 p.m. on drawing night. To find locations, search on the Mega Millions website.

In Kentucky, residents can even purchase tickets online at Kylottery.com.

In Ohio, residents can use Lottery Card available in Kroger, Buehler's Fresh Foods and Giant Eagle stores. It allows Ohio consumers to enter draw games on their phones and get notified and paid electronically if they win.

How do you pick numbers and which ones do you pick?

Players may pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers. There are five different numbers from 1 to 70 and one number from 1 to 25.

Players can also select Easy Pick or Quick Pick and have the numbers auto drawn.

What about the megaplier?

The megaplier costs an extra $1 but the payoff could be huge. Megaplier lets players increase non-jackpot prize winnings by two, three, four or five times.

So if you win the $1 million second-tier prize in Mega Millions, and the megaplier number drawn is 5, your prize would be $5 million.

Here's what you need to win:

To win the jackpot, all six numbers on your ticket must match the winning numbers. There are a total of nine ways to win a prize in Mega Millions.

Match 5 numbers (or 1 to 70) + 1 number (1 to 25) = Jackpot

• 5 + 0 = $1 million
• 4 + 1 = $10,000
• 4 + 0 = $500
• 3 + 1 = $200
• 3 + 0 = $10
• 2 + 1+ $10
• 1 + 1 = $4
• 0 + 1 = $2

What do get when you win?

If you hit the big one, there are two options, annuity or cash.

With the annuity option, the prize is paid out as one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments. According to Mega Millions, each payment is 5 percent bigger than the previous one.

The cash option is a one-time, lump-sum payment that is equal to all the cash in the Mega Millions jackpot prize pool.

For more information, visit megamillions.com.

What Time of Day Is the Mega Millions Drawing

Source: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2021/05/18/mega-millions-drawing-how-to-play/5143552001/

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