Mega Millions: Friday night's drawing is 2nd-largest jackpot
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Mega Millions mania continues to sweep through the Philadelphia region as the jackpot eclipses $1.35 billion dollars -- the second-largest prize in the game's history.
The one-time cash payout option that most winners take is now $707.9 million.
"Some people are superstitious about Friday the 13th, but if you're feeling lucky it only takes one ticket to win a life-changing prize of this size," Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko said. "Imagine all of the good things you could do if you won, like help family or local communities."
At Xpress Mart in Washington Township, customers came by all day to buy tickets.
If someone hits the winning numbers Friday night, they would be the eighth winner since 2008 to win on Friday the 13th.
"You can always say you going to do this, you going to do that," Mina Posey, a customer, said, "but when it gets in your hand, you don't know what you're going to do, so once it gets in my hand, I'll figure it out."
Another customer, John Myers, added, "I might give some of it away. I've got 13 grandkids and two great-grandsons so they'll never have to work."
Earlier this week, a person in Ocean County won a Mega Millions second-tier prize of $1 million.
The next Mega Millions drawing will happen at 11 p.m. Friday night.
Mega Millions and lottery history
Mega Millions' largest-ever jackpot was won in October 2018 in South Carolina. An anonymous winner took home $1.537 billion.
The current jackpot has been rolling since Oct. 14, 2021. Tickets sold in California and Texas shared a $502 million prize.
The largest lottery win ever came when a Powerball ticket sold in California hit a $2.04 billion jackpot.
How much does it cost to play?
A ticket costs $2 per play; a Megaplier costs an additional $1.