Dueling Jackpots Continue To Climb
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Excitement is buzzing among Lottery players across South Florida and the nation as jackpot for two multi-state games, Mega Millions and Powerball, have continued to rise to a combined total of $738 million.
The Mega Millions jackpot rolled to $382 million after Tuesday night's draw, and the Powerball jackpot rolled to $356 million after nobody won the grand prize in Wednesday night's draw.
It has been seven years since every state lottery in the U.S. began selling Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, but both games have never offered payouts of this size at the same time.
The next Mega Millions drawing is Friday night and Powerball on Saturday night during the 11:00 pm news on CBS4, South Florida's new home for the Florida Lottery.
Friday's Mega Millions jackpot will be the sixth largest in the 15-year history of the game!
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot with a $1 ticket are 1-in-258.9 million.
If there is one winner, he or she can choose the jackpot, which is paid out over 30-years, or a one-time lump sum cash option of $238 million.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot with a $2 ticket are 1-in-292,201,338.
The cash option for the Powerball is $224 million.
A record $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot was shared by winning ticket-holders in Florida, California and Tennessee in January 2016.