How to play Mega Millions? Rules and Procedure explored as jackpot surges to $1.02 billion after no one wins previous one

On July 26, the Mega Millions jackpot surged to $1.02 billion after no lottery ticket had matched the six winning numbers. The winning numbers for Tuesday were 7, 29, 60, 63, 66 with mega ball number 15.

Speaking to CNN, the lottery's spokesperson Marie Kilbane weighed in on the matter and said:

"All jurisdictions have reported in, and no one has hit the Mega Millions jackpot. So, the jackpot will roll to $1,025,000,000 for Friday ($602.5 million cash)."

For those who are not aware, this is not the first time that the jackpot's amount has surged in the recent past. On July 19, the Mega Millions jackpot prize had reached a whopping $630 million as no ticket could match the winning numbers of the day, or the mega ball number.

While nobody clinched the winning lottery, many tickets won cash prizes worth $1 million by matching the first five numbers. As per CNN, one of the tickets from Ohio won $3 million as it also included a Megaplier worth $1 million more.

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A quick rundown of the rules to keep in mind while entering the Mega Millions lottery

According to the official Mega Millions website, the ticket for each play costs only $2.00. The website also adds that the lottery players are then offered to pick six numbers from two different number pools comprising five completely different numbers from 1 to 70, which are called the 'white balls' and one number from 1 to 25 which is termed as the 'Mega Ball.' If the winner matches all six numbers in a single draw, then they win the jackpot money.

The website also states that 1 in 302,575,350 lottery ticket holders win the jackpot. 1 ticket holder in 12,607,306 win the $1 million prizes. The $10,000 prizes are won by 1 in 931,001 lottery ticket holders.

After winning, the Mega Millions annuity is paid as an immediate payment, followed by 29 annual payments. Each of the annual payments is 5% bigger than the previous payment.

Many states also issue a Megaplier feature that increases the jackpot sums by 2 to 5 times. However, it costs an additional lottery price of $1 per play.

Previously, Jennifer Anderson, deputy director of the Colorado Lottery, spoke to CBS about the benefits of the grand lottery. In a statement, she said that the lottery helps individual states collect a good amount of revenue to enhance the quality of schools, recreational areas, and open spaces. Elaborating on the same, Anderson noted:

"In Colorado we have returned over $3.8 billion for outdoor open spaces, recreation. We just bought two new state parks, and that's important because Colorado population continues to grow and it is outpacing the amount of open spaces we have for people recreating."

Till date, the biggest Mega Millions jackpot was $1.537 billion, which was won by a ticket holder in South Carolina on October 23, 2018. A $1.05 billion jackpot was won by a group of four players in Michigan on January 22, 2021.

Many lottery ticket holders are hoping for a win on Friday. If there is a winning ticket, the $1.02 billion prize will be the third largest jackpot amount in the grand lottery's history.