Lottery officials have upped their estimate of the pot for tonight’s Mega Millions jackpot to an even $1-billion dollars – almost $740-million if the cash options is taken.
The Mega Millions jackpot starts at $20 million and continues to grow each drawing until it is won – which hasn’t happened for 36 straight drawings dating back to Sept 18.
The size of the jackpot depends on the number of tickets sold, and sales have skyrocketed this week after there was no winner on Wednesday, when the jackpot was around $750-million dollars.
The Nebraska Lottery began offering Mega Millions in March of 2010. The largest Mega Millions jackpot on record occurred in October 2018 when one ticket was sold in South Carolina for a $1.537 billion jackpot.