Mega Millions Jackpot Reaches A World Record $540 Million

Yesterday the Mega Millions jackpot was worth an estimated $500 million with a $359 million cash option. Overnight the jackpot has expanded another whopping $40 million dollars, bringing the grand total for tonight's drawing to $540 million. Lottery officials are calling the jackpot the largest lottery jackpot in world history.

The multi state Mega Millions $540 million jackpot is a new world record, causing a chaotic stir across the states. Costing only one dollar to play, the game has people in Nevada lined up for up to four hours, all of them hoping for lady luck on their side. The Las Vegas Sun reported that at Lotto store in Vegas had people begin lining up at 6 a.m. on Thursday to get their tickets.

According to CBS, Lotto agents in New York sold 1.3 million Mega Millions tickets per hour on Thursday. With an expected 1.2 billion tickets sold before tonight's drawing, an official said that there is a 90 percent chance that the jackpot will have a winner on Friday night.

Friday's winner will be taking home $20.6 million dollars a year, but the odds are not in your favor. The odds of winning tonight's Mega Million jackpot is 176 million to one, which CBS explains would mean someone would have to buy 176 million tickets to be guaranteed a win. The Sun Times did the math for someone to buy 176 million tickets, and figured out that it would take almost 28 years to just mark the bubbles if it took you five seconds per card.

The drawing will be held on Friday at 11 p.m. Eastern Time. For a list of where and when to click here. Not sure how to play Mega Millions? Be sure to watch the informative video from the International Business Times.