Mega Millions rolls into Tuesday’s drawing with an estimated $511 million jackpot and a cash option of about $231 million. For ticket holders in 45 states, Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the game has moved from a $60 million win on March 17 to a far larger prize pool.
The odds of matching all six winning numbers are 1 in 302,575,350. Players pick five different numbers from 1 to 70 and one number from 1 to 25, or choose Easy Pick, and tickets cost $5.
Mega Millions tickets and payouts
Winners can take the jackpot as 30 annual payments, each five percent higher than the last, or as a lump sum. That structure matters because the advertised jackpot and the cash option are not the same amount, and the choice changes how the prize is paid out over time.
For anyone buying in before Tuesday’s drawing, the rules are simple: match all six numbers to take the jackpot. Mega Millions numbers coverage from Friday shows how quickly a rollover can keep building when nobody hits the top prize.
March 17 and the rollover
The jackpot is rising even after someone won the $60 million prize on March 17, which is the complication behind this week’s larger estimate. Instead of resetting to a smaller starting level and sitting still, the pool has kept growing as drawings pass without a jackpot winner.
Mega Millions jackpot reached $489 million before Friday’s drawing, and Tuesday’s estimate now sits even higher. If no one wins again, the jackpot climbs higher for the next drawing, keeping the same Tuesday-and-Friday rhythm in place for players who want another shot.
Washington D.C. and U.S. Virgin Islands
The game is offered across 45 states, Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which keeps the pool broad and the number set enormous. That wide reach is part of why a single drawing can carry a $511 million estimate and still be treated as a routine Tuesday event for the game.
Whether anyone wins Tuesday’s $511 million jackpot is not stated, so the only thing players know now is the scale of the prize and the terms attached to it. If nobody matches all six numbers, the amount rolls higher again, and the next drawing starts from a bigger figure.
