Mega Millions jackpot grows

UNITED STATES – (PRESS RELEASE) -- The Mega Millions game is the talk of the town this weekend. Friday's drawing proved it because a total of 1,296,058 Mega Millions tickets in 12 states won prizes, including 17 tickets that came within one number of winning it all. No ticket matched all six numbers to win the $177 million jackpot, so the jackpot for the Tuesday, February 27 Mega Millions drawing grows to an estimated $216 million.

The winning numbers in Friday's drawing were: 03-18-21-38-50 and the Mega Ball number was 43.

The 17 tickets that came so close to winning the jackpot did so by matching the first five numbers and only missing the Mega Ball number. Those tickets were purchased in California (3), Georgia (1), Illinois (2), Maryland (1), Michigan (2), New York (5), Ohio (2), and Washington (1).

This jackpot has been growing since January 9, when Mega Millions had its most recent jackpot winner. The jackpot has now rolled 13 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 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.