With no Mega Millions winner, jackpot climbs. There’s still hope for Powerball ticket holders.

There was no winner in Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing, so the jackpot for Tuesday will climb to $1.6 billion.

Mega Millions lottery officials said that no tickets sold matched all six numbers drawn Friday night, leaving the approximately $1 billion prize unclaimed.

The jackpot for the next drawing on Tuesday, Oct. 23, will be the largest in U.S. history, edging out the $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot awarded in January 2016.

Lottery fever is running rampant, and North Carolina players have as good a chance as anyone at winning the games. (Though the odds are against you.)

The jackpot has been rolling every drawing since July 27, when it started at $40 million. According to the N.C. Education Lottery, which offers Mega Millions tickets, a single winner in Friday’s drawing would have received $565.6 million if they took the cash option.

N.C. officials said that in this past Tuesday’s drawing, 93,726 tickets sold in North Carolina won a prize, ranging from $2 to $10,000. Winners have 180 days to claim their prizes.

Three tickets sold in North Carolina were among the 100 $10,000 winners nationwide in last week’s drawing, lottery officials said. They were sold in Brunswick County at the Minuteman Food Mart on Southport Supply Road in Supply; in Surry County at the Sheetz on South Main Street in Dobson; and in Guilford County at Quality Mart on N.C. 68 North in Oak Ridge.

From July 27 through Oct. 16, Mega Millions sales in North Carolina raised an estimated $10.6 million for education, the lottery site said.

Powerball drawing is Saturday

Lottery players still have a chance for riches this weekend, though, with the Powerball jackpot still in play. The winning numbers for the approximately $430 million pot will be drawn Saturday night. The estimated cash value is $248 million.

Powerball and Mega Millions are the two games with the largest payouts offered by the N.C. Education Lottery, and both are sold in many other states.

Both games have been modified in recent years to increase jackpots. The changes made it less likely that any given ticket will win the top prize, but they increased chances of winning smaller prizes.

The odds of matching all six numbers and winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.5 million.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million.

The next Powerball drawing is at 11 p.m. EST Saturday.

The next Mega Millions drawing is at 11 p.m. EST Tuesday.

How to play

Mega Millions

Tickets are $2 at any place that sells N.C. lottery tickets. Players get five numbers from 1 to 70 and one Mega number between 1 and 25. You can pick your own numbers or the computer will do it for you.

You must match all five numbers plus the Mega number to win the grand prize. There are smaller prizes, from $2 up to $1 million, for matching some, but not all, numbers.

For an additional $1 you can get a “Megaplier” ticket that will increase the amount of the smaller prizes, but not the grand prize.

Powerball

Tickets are $2 and players choose five numbers from 1 to 69 and one Powerball number from 1 to 26. Again, the computer can do this for you if you don’t want to choose your own numbers.

The jackpot goes to a winner who matches the five numbers and the Powerball number. There are smaller prizes, from $4 up to $1 million, for matching some, but not all, numbers.

For an extra $1 you can get a “Power Play” ticket in which you can increase the amount of the smaller prizes, but not the grand prize.

This story was originally published October 20, 2018 at 11:06 AM with the headline "With no Mega Millions winner, jackpot climbs. There’s still hope for Powerball ticket holders.."