If you have ever dreamed of being a millionaire, now is the time to play the Mega Millions lottery which is now estimated to be around $400 million. The winning numbers will be picked on Friday and according to the lottery website, this will be the second highest award ever for Mega Millions.

After taxes, the cash payout would be about $216 million and of course, if more than one person has the winning numbers, they will have to split the jackpot. The highest Mega Millions jackpot was $656 million. The numbers were drawn on March, 30, 2012 and the money was split between three winners.

The Jackpot has already rolled 20 times without a winner and when nobody won on Tuesday night, the pot went up from $344 million to $400 million.

The Mega Millions website said,
“This is the largest jackpot since changes were made to Mega Millions that include larger starting jackpots, a million-dollar second prize, and a new matrix of 1-75 for the first five numbers and 1-15 for the Mega Ball number. One thing that did not change is the price of a Mega Millions ticket: still $1. The odds of winning the jackpot are approximately one in 259 million. The odds of winning any of the Mega Millions prizes are approximately 1 in 15. Mega Millions holds the record for the largest jackpot ever, at $656 million. That jackpot on March 30, 2012, was split by three winning tickets in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.”

The winner can choose to take the $216 million in cash or receive payments of $13.3 million annually.

Have you bought your ticket yet?

Image from Wikimedia Commons.