The Mega Millions jackpot has risen to an estimated $1.02 billion, with the next drawing scheduled for Friday, July 29 at 11pm E.T. A billion dollars is a difficult number to comprehend, and it has only happened twice before in Mega Millions history. 

People across the country held their breath Tuesday night as the numbers for one of the largest Mega Millions jackpots in history were drawn. The jackpot surpassed $1 billion after no winning numbers were drawn, making it the third largest in the game’s history.

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According to CBS News, the largest-ever lottery jackpot was a $1.58 billion Powerball jackpot won in 2016.

This year’s Mega Million jackpot winners have included a $426 million prize in California in January, a $128 million ticket in New York in March, and a $110 million prize in Minnesota in April. Mega Millions reports that its website has crashed several times as a result of the volume of traffic it receives after draws.

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How to play-

Tickets are $2 per performance. You choose six numbers for each ticket. The first five numbers in the range of 1 to 70 are your white ball numbers. The final number you select from 1 to 25 will be your selection for the gold Mega Ball. Not sure what to choose? There are “Easy Pick” and “Quick Pick” options that generate numbers at random as you purchase your tickets. If you want to draw your numbers before purchasing your tickets, Mega Millions has a random number generator on its website.

To win the jackpot, all six of your numbers must be drawn. Other prize levels, however, are based on fewer matching numbers.

Chances of winning are 1 in 302.5 million. The odds improve slightly for the other prizes, but playing the lottery is still a gamble.