There’s still time to buy tickets as Mega Millions swells to $1.28B

Maybe the 30th time is the charm?

After 29 consecutive drawings with no one matching all six Mega Million numbers, Friday night’s drawing could be one for the history books — with a jaw-dropping jackpot of $1.28 billion.

The pot was expected to be $1.1 billion but a Friday frenzy boosted the take.

The drawing is at 11 p.m. Friday, so there is time to take your shot at becoming a billionaire.

If won, the prize would be the second-largest in the lottery’s 20-year history, behind a $1.537 billion jackpot won by a lucky person in South Carolina in October 2018 — which remains the world’s largest lottery prize won on a single ticket.

The $1.1 billion prize is for players who choose to be paid annually, over 29 years. However, most winners opt for the cash option.

The cash option for Friday’s drawing, which will take place in Atlanta, is an estimated $648.2 million.

Gordon Midvale fills out a lottery ticket inside a 7-Eleven store in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/)

“Seeing the jackpot build over a period of months and reaching the billion-dollar mark is truly breathtaking,” Pat McDonald, the current lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement earlier this week.

“We encourage customers to keep play in balance and enjoy the ride. Someone is going to win,” he added.

So far this year, four Mega Millions jackpots have been won, with tickets sold in California, New York, Minnesota and Tennessee.

The last time someone won the big prize was on April 25.

If no one wins the Mega Millions jackpot Friday night, the prize will continue to rise. The next drawing will happen Tuesday.

The game is available in 45 states as well as the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Tickets are $2, and the odds of winning the jackpot, are not exactly great — about 1 in 303 million.

But, hey, you never know.