Megamillions Jackpot Rises Yet Again

The already huge Megamillions jackpot has risen yet again. The jackpot, which started at only $12 million on January 27th of this year, and which was $290 million after Tuesday's drawing, has increased this week after no one managed to match all six numbers from this Friday's drawing. The winning numbers were 6, 17, 19, 20, 21, with the Mega number being 20. The increase makes the new jackpot a whopping $356 million, making it one of the biggest Megamillions jackpots of the game's history, only being surpassed by two other jackpots in 2007 and 2011. Anyone choosing to accept a lump sum prize for the jackpot will receive $255 million. The lottery game currently sells tickets in 43 out of 50 states, making it somewhat odd that a winner has not selected all of the correct numbers, given the number of possible players in each state. Though odd, the lack of a jackpot winner does serve to increase the jackpot with each drawing, leading to the outstanding jackpot we have today. Should any players manage to match all five regular numbers, but not the Mega number, then they will win $250,000. Five of these $250,000 tickets were sold at a store in Northville, Michigan earlier in the week, creating news headlines across the nation. 39 more of those same $250,000 tickets were sold for the March 23rd drawing, generating around $9,750,000 for ticket holders. The next drawing for the Megamillions jackpot will be held on Tuesday, March 27, 2012, with a chance for the jackpot to reach over $400 million by next Friday if there are no winners for the Tuesday drawing.