The anticipated $740 million Mega Millions jackpot for Friday night's drawing has grown to be the seventh-richest prize ever offered in the nationwide lottery game.

Since June 4, when a ticket sold in Illinois claimed a $552 million prize, no Mega Millions ticket has matched the five white balls and the gold Mega Ball. Tens of millions of tickets have been sold in 26 drawings since then, but not a single one has matched the six winning numbers from that evening.

Five white numbers will be picked from a pool of 90 balls tomorrow at 11 p.m. EST from the Mega Millions draw studio in Atlanta, along with a gold Mega Ball from a pool of 25. The miserable one in 302,575,350 odds of a ticket winning the top prize never changes, but as more tickets enter and the media pays attention to the jackpot-making prizes, the likelihood of the jackpot being hit increases because more number combinations are available.

The anticipated cost of the one-time cash option is $366.3 million. Both sums are before the highest tax bracket (37%) and any applicable state income taxes.

If a lump sum were selected, the amount would be instantly lowered to roughly $230.8 million from $135.5 million.

Frequency of Numbers 

The quick choose feature is used by the majority of Powerball and Mega Millions players to choose their ticket numbers. However, research indicates that by carefully selecting your six digits, you may be able to marginally increase your chances.

More often than any other number in the 90-ball pool, the white Mega Millions Nos. 3 and 10 are chosen, according to USA Mega, an online database that keeps track of Powerball and Mega Millions drawings, winners, and lottery news.

Ninety-seven percent of the 715 Mega Millions drawings since Tuesday, October 31, 2017, have featured the numbers three and ten. These numbers have been drawn 67 times total. The last time No. 10 was drawn was on August 30. July 23 was the last time No. 3 was drawn.

At 64 draws, or 8.95% of the total, No. 17 has been drawn the next most frequently. After 62 draws, or 8.67%, Nos. 14 and 31 tied for fourth place.

The gold numbers 11 and 22 have produced more wins than any other number in the 25-ball pool when it comes to the Mega Ball, which is the simplest method to get your $2 per play investment back. 55.45% of the 715 drawings have featured the gold Mega Balls 11 and 22, which have each been drawn 39 times.

36 times, or 5.03%, has the No. 24 Mega Ball appeared, and 35 times, or 4.9%, has the No. 18 Mega Ball been drawn.

Conversely, the least fortunate Mega Millions ball has been the white No. 49 ball. There have only been 36 pulls of the 49, or 1.01%. The white balls with the numbers 50, 35, 65, and 51 are also unlucky. With only 20 draws, or 2.8%, of Mega Balls, No. 23 has been drawn the fewest.

Probabilities of Lotteries

After looking at the Mega Millions statistics, some lottery players might be more likely to select the least-drawn numbers, believing that those numbers are due. However, mathematicians assert that choosing lottery numbers is not a science or a technique.

Professor of mathematics at Fairfield University in Connecticut Nick Kapoor clarifies that a single lottery drawing event is unaffected by anything that happened in the past or will happen in the future. He claims that even using the previously described Mega Millions chart, which displays the numbers that are drawn more frequently, increases the likelihood of winning the jackpot by 0.0001 to 0.00002%.

"It’s still very, very improbable,” Kapoor said.