© Provided by Planck, LLC, d/b/a Patch Media The Mega Millions jackpot winning numbers for Tuesday, Feb. 19, are worth $206 million. The cash option is worth an estimated $124.7 million. The winning numbers are 17-24-34-56-65 with a Megaball of 3.
The winning numbers for Friday, Feb. 15, were 10-38-40-43-65 with a Megaball of 12.. A ticket was sold in Indiana that had all five numbers but missed the Megaball, though it did hit the 2x Megaplier, meaning someone won $2 million. It also meant the jackpot continues to grow.
The jackpot hasn't been won since Jan. 1. The New Year's Day drawing saw the eighth-highest prize in the game's history won - a $425 million jackpot.
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The odds of picking the correct numbers on five white balls and one yellow ball (the Mega Ball) are one in 302.6 million. No matter how many people play Mega Millions, the chances of winning never change. The chances of winning are based on the number combinations not the number of players buying tickets.
The Megaplier add-on, which costs an extra dollar, increases non-jackpot prizes by two to five times.
Players pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers – five different numbers from 1 to 70 and one number from 1 to 25 (the Mega Ball number.) Players can also use an easy pick feature, where a computer selects random numbers for them. To win the jackpot, a player much match all six numbers.
Players who match some of the numbers could still win some money. Here is the payout schedule for lesser prizes, not including the Megaplier, which is different for each game:
Mega Millions tickets are $2 each and can be played in 44 states, Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lottery hopefuls had until 10:45 p.m. EST to buy tickets. The drawing is held at 11 p.m. EST in Atlanta.
Photo by Jenna Fisher, Patch