US Mega Millions jackpot climbs to $1.25 billion

ISTANBUL

The Mega Millions jackpot in the US has climbed to $1.25 billion earlier this week and will be up for grabs at Friday night's drawing at 11 p.m. EDT.

The jackpot has been climbing for months and is now the fourth highest in the history of the Mega Millions game.

While the chance of winning is approximately one in 302 million, the lucky ticket leaves the winner with two options: take the $1.25 billion as an annuity spread over three decades or receive a sum of $625 million in cash.

The biggest Mega Millions prize ever won on a single ticket came in an October 2018 drawing that stood at $1.5 billion, with the winner from the state of South Carolina opting for a cash prize of more than $877 million.

The largest jackpot ever won in the US was a Powerball lottery in November 2022 at $2.04 billion.

Powerball and Mega Millions cost $2 per ticket.