Latest you can buy mega millions ticket

With a little, or a lot, of luck, someone will be crowned the big winner of the Mega Millions lottery and the $1 billion jackpot. As the drawing nears, it's natural for people to rush to buy tickets, but there is a cutoff time for people taking their shot at becoming wealthy beyond their imagination.

In many states, eligible tickets are sold until 15 minutes before the drawing takes place. The drawing for Mega Millions will occur at 11 p.m. EDT on Friday, so, if you live in an eligible state on the East Coast, you have to purchase your ticket by 10:45 p.m EDT. If you're in Central Time Zone, that means 9:45 p.m. CDT. The West Coast should have their tickets in hand by 7:45 p.m PDT.

However, there are exceptions to this time limit, so it's best to check the rules in your own state. For example, in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, the cutoff is 9:50 p.m. EDT on the day of the drawing.

After a series of drawings during which no one hit big, the Mega Millions reached a whopping $1 billion with a cash option of $565 million on Friday. The massive prize is the second-largest pot of cash in United States lottery history.

To take a shot at winning the life-changing prize money, a person over the age of 18 needs to purchase a ticket for two dollars with the option to guess the Megaplier for an extra dollar. Tickets are sold at a variety of establishments, including convenience stores, gas stations and newspaper stands.

There are two ways a person can select their numbers, either by choosing specific numbers or through random selection. If there is a set of lucky numbers the person wants to play, they select five different numbers ranging from one to 70 and one number ranging from one to 25. If the person wants to leave it up to the computer to decide their fate, they can select the Easy Pick/Quick Pick option and have numbers generated for them.

There are nine ways a person can win the Mega Million lottery, ranging from the top prize down to the cost of their ticket:

• 5 numbers + gold Mega Ball match = Jackpot
• 5 numbers + no gold Mega Ball match = $1,000,000
• 4 numbers + gold Mega Ball match = $10,000
• 4 numbers + no gold Mega Ball match = $500
• 3 numbers + gold Mega Ball match = $200
• 3 numbers + no gold Mega Ball match = $10
• 2 numbers + gold ball match = $10
• 1 number + gold ball match = $4
• 0 numbers + gold ball match = $2

Winners have two choices for claiming their prize, either in an immediate payment followed by 29 subsequent payments, or in one lump sum of cash.

While not as high as the Mega Millions prize, also on the line this weekend is the $470 million prize attached to the Power Ball. The drawing for the Power Ball will take place on Saturday evening.

In this July 26, 2022, Gordon Midvale fills out a lottery ticket inside a 7-Eleven store in Oakland, Calif. The Mega Millions lottery jackpot has topped $1 billion — only the fourth time a lottery game has reached such heights. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File) APAP

The Mega Millions prize took another lead forward, clocking in now at $1.28 billion.

At that level, it would be the second largest Mega Millions prize in the game’s 20-year history. The current record jackpot for Mega Millions is $1.537 billion, won on October 23, 2018. That winning ticket was sold in South Carolina and it remains the world’s largest lottery prize ever won on a single ticket.

Tonight’s drawing will be conducted at 11 p.m. ET (10 p.m. CT) in Atlanta. You can watch here and we will post the winning numbers as soon as they are available.

Assuming there is a winner tonight, the lucky ticket holder can opt to take payments over 29 years or take the cash value - $747.2 million. Four Mega Millions jackpots have been won to date in 2022, in California, New York, Minnesota and Tennessee. The jackpots start at $20 million and grow based on game sales and interest rates. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 303 million.

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How much are tickets?

Mega Millions tickets are $2. In most jurisdictions, players can add the Megaplier for an additional $1 to multiply their non-jackpot prizes.

Where can I buy a ticket?

Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They are not sold in Alabama, but are available in surrounding states.

Other states not selling tickets include Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.

You can go here to see a list of states and locations where tickets are sold.

Can you buy a Mega Millions ticket online?

Yes – sort of.

If you live in Illinois, Georgia, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, the District of Columbia or Virginia, you may buy Mega Millions tickets online. You can also purchase lottery ticket subscriptions if you live in New York.

However, you must be a resident of and be physically in their borders when making a lottery purchase online in these states.

Also, residents of New Jersey, Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, D.C. can use the mobile app Jackpocket, a lottery mobile app that lets you purchase official tickets from licensed partners.

What is the cutoff time? When is the last time to buy Mega Millions tickets?

You can buy Mega Millions tickets up to 15 minutes before each scheduled drawing.

So, in this case on Friday, July 29, 2022, the last time to buy a Mega Millions ticket would be at 10:45 p.m. ET. (9:45 p.m. CT).

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