Mega Millions jackpot crosses half a billion-dollar mark

RALEIGH – The Mega Millions jackpot just hit a big milestone as it raced past half a billion dollars for Tuesday’s drawing, offering a $530 million jackpot. 

The $530 million prize is the eighth largest in the 20-year history of the game. A North Carolina winner on Tuesday would have the choice of taking the $530 million as an annuity or $304.7 million in cash. 

“Any time players see a jackpot top that half billion-dollar threshold, they start dreaming about how their lives could change by winning it,” said Mark Michalko, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery. “We know it will be won eventually and we would love to see that win come from North Carolina.” 

While the jackpot keeps rolling, players in North Carolina continue to win other prizes. More than 40,000 winning tickets were sold in Friday’s drawing including a ticket worth $10,000 that came from the Scotchman on Carolina Beach Road in Wilmington.  

The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.5 million. 

Players can buy Mega Millions tickets at any lottery retail location or through Online Play on the lottery’s website, www.nclottery.com, or with the lottery’s app, the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. 

Ticket sales from draw games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $2.5 million a day for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.