Mega Million Jackpot Keeps Rising

UNITED STATES – (PRESS RELEASE) -- $262 million and it's still growing! The Mega Millions game is certainly living up to its name. In fact, there were more than 1.4 million winning tickets in the Tuesday, November 8, 2005 Mega Millions drawing. But none of those tickets matched all six numbers to win the jackpot. So the jackpot for the Friday, November 11 drawing rolls to an estimated $262 million.

A total of 26 tickets came very, very close to winning that jackpot. They matched the first five numbers and only missed the Mega Ball number. Those tickets were purchased in California (2), Georgia (3), Illinois (4), Massachusetts (1), Maryland (1), Michigan (1), New Jersey (5), New York (4), Texas (3) and Virginia (2).

Tuesday's winning numbers were: 08-16-21-25-27 and the Mega Ball number was 16.

This jackpot has been growing since September 16, when Mega Millions had its most recent jackpot winner. The jackpot has now rolled 15 times without a winner. The odds of winning the jackpot are approximately one in 176 million. The odds of winning any of the Mega Millions prizes are approximately 1 in 40.

Mega Millions holds the record for the largest jackpot in U.S. history. On May 9, 2000, the jackpot for the Big Game (the forerunner of Mega Millions) grew to $363 million. There were two winning tickets in that drawing: one in Michigan and one in Illinois.

Mega Millions is played in 12 states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

Mega Millions drawings are held Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 PM Eastern Time, 10:00 PM Central Time and 8:00 PM Pacific Time.