ST. LOUIS — Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot is expected to be $970 million, with a $716.3 million cash option. It’s the third largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history. The current prize has grown since September. According to the Mega Millions website, it’s the longest the game has gone without a jackpot win.
But before you spend your hard earned cash, consider this information our VERIFY team published in 2018. The chances of winning the Mega Millions grand prize is 1 in 302.6 million.
Here are a few things that are more likely to happen...
- According to CDC numbers, you are about 30,000 times more likely to get injured in your bathroom, a 1 in 10,000 chance, compared to winning the Mega Millions jackpot.
- National Weather Service Data shows you're about 250 times more likely to be struck by lightning this year with odds of 1 in 1,171,000.
- A "Jaws" scenario, or death by shark attack, is 80 times more likely according to the Florida Shark Museum with odds of about 1 in 3,748,067.
But despite the odds, we have seen big winners in Missouri and Illinois. 2012 was a lucky year. A couple from Red Bud, Illinois, won $218.6 million in April. In November of that year, a Kansas City area family won $293.75 million playing Powerball.
It wasn't a jackpot win, but someone in the St. Louis area did win big money this week playing Powerball. A ticket sold at the Circle K at 602 N. Main Street in O'Fallon, Missouri matched all five white-ball numbers in Saturday night's Powerball drawing. The only number they didn't match was the Powerball. Still, the winner gets $1 million.
The winning combination in Saturday's Powerball drawing was 14, 20, 39, 65 and 67. The Powerball number was 2.