Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot Hits $355M

You have another opportunity to make your dreams a reality in the Mega Millions jackpot tonight.

Friday night's drawing failed to produce a winner for the multi-state lottery's top prize, which was estimated to be $290 million.

The jackpot has now grown to $355 million after 15 consecutive drawings that started Nov. 12.

Mega Millions jackpots begin with $12 million and roll over to the next drawing until there is a winner.

A winner of the jackpot may receive the prize in a cash option of about $208.3 million.

At least 25 percent of a lottery windfall goes to the federal government and state taxes vary by location.

Other smaller monetary prizes can range from $2 to $250,000, depending on how many numbers are matched.

The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever won was $390 million in March 2007, according to the Mega Millions website.

Big Lottery Dreams

Although the odds of winning Mega Millions' top prize are about 1 in 176 million, that hasn't stopped people from dreaming big.

"I'm going to retire … you can believe me," Mega Millions player Johnny Bethea said.

Across 41 states, the nation's capital, and even the U.S. Virgin Islands, players have lined up for a chance at the big money.

"It's exciting. You think, 'What am I going to do in my plane, where am I going to go, how big a house will I live in.' It's a level of fantasy we all engage in, somebody will win that, it could be you," said Emily Oster, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

"I won the lottery before with four numbers," lottery player Tracy Wingfield said.

Mathematicians and lottery officials said that the odds of winning are always the same regardless of how many people play because they always draw from the same set of numbers.

Five numbers are picked from a set of balls numbered 1 to 56 and one mega number is drawn from a set of balls numbered 1 to 46.

Letting the computer choose your numbers or quick picks does not necessarily increase your chances of winning.

Statistically, it doesn't matter and playing the same number time after time doesn't help you win any faster.

Experts also said it's a misconception that your chances are better if you live outside a big city.

New York state leads the way with 23 Mega Millions winners and more than half of those winners came from New York City.

"I have had people say they don't buy tickets in Atlanta, that they actually drive out of town. It's all one giant computer system, so it doesn't matter," said Margaret DeFrancisco of the Georgia Lottery Corp.

But some players such as seven-time lottery winner Richard Lustig have come up with their own winning method.

"Most people buy a $1 ticket and win $10, and they put the $10 in their pocket," Lustig said in an October interview with ABCNews.com. "Those people are playing the game wrong. Instead, he said, if you win $10, you should buy $11 worth of tickets because "if you lose, you only lost a $1."

Using this method, Lustig won $98,000 in a Fantasy 5 game and $842,000 in 2002.

Whatever the strategy used to win, the possibilities seem infinite for would-be winners.

"Go buy an island … in the Caribbean, that's the plan," player Camden Ahlberg said.