The Mega Millions drawing for March 26 is held at 11pm ET. Photo: Ringo Chiu/AFP via Getty Images
A ticket sold in New Jersey is the sole winner of the $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot — the nation's eighth-largest lottery prize.
State of play: The elusive jackpot has an estimated cash value of $537.5 million, a slight increase from earlier estimates.
- The jackpot has been rolling since it was last won on Dec. 8.
- The jackpot is the fifth largest prize in the history of the game, Mega Millions said in a news release.
Fewer jackpot winners and bigger prizes have become the norm since Powerball and Mega Millions made the games harder to win and more enticing to play a few years ago.
- The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night also is climbing to an estimated $865 million, the fifth-largest prize of the game, the lottery said.
Mega Millions winning numbers for March 26
The winning numbers in Tuesday's drawing are 7, 11, 22, 29 and 38 with the Mega Ball 4.
Did anyone win Mega Millions Tuesday
The intrigue: A ticket sold in New Jersey won the jackpot, Mega Millions posted on its website early Wednesday.
- The jackpot advertised for Friday, March 29 is $20 million.
Mega Millions drawings: Where to watch
Mega Millions drawings are held in Atlanta at 11pm ET on Tuesdays and Fridays.
- The drawings are posted on the Mega Millions YouTube page.
- Two machines pick the numbers in the drawings, the first picking five white balls and the other selecting a gold "Mega Ball."
How to play Mega Millions
Lottery players can pick six numbers from two separate pools — five different numbers from 1 to 70 (the white balls) and one number from 1 to 25 (the gold Mega Ball).
- "Quick Pick" or "Easy Pick" tickets can also be purchased where numbers are selected automatically.
Odds of winning Mega Millions lottery
The odds of winning the grand prize jackpot are about 1 in 303 million per ticket.
- Other odds vary by prize and range from 1 in 37 for matching the Mega Ball to 1 in 12.6 million for matching five balls without the Mega Ball.
How much is a Mega Millions ticket
A Mega Millions ticket costs $2 but players in most states can "add the Megaplier for an additional $1 to multiply their non-jackpot prizes."
- For each $2 ticket, roughly 35 cents goes to non-jackpot prizes, about 75 cents goes to fund the jackpot, and the remaining 90 cents goes to the government.
States that sell Mega Millions tickets
Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with drawings held each Tuesday and Friday.
- Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah do not participate in the lottery.
Where to buy Mega Millions tickets online
Mega Millions tickets are available to buy online in 10 states and Washington, D.C.
- New York also has a subscription to purchase tickets online.
- Other states with online sales are Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
- In most cases, you need to live in one of these states to buy an online ticket, but in "all cases you must be physically within their borders when you make any online ticket purchases," the Mega Millions website says.
Mega Millions drawing cut-off time
How late tickets can be purchased for a drawing varies by state because Mega Millions tickets are sold by individual lotteries.
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Editor's note: This story was updated with the winning Mega Millions lottery numbers and news the jackpot was won by a ticket purchased in New Jersey.