Mega Million jackpot rises again - this time to $172 million

September 7

Just yesterday, we were reporting Mega Millions was getting huge, today the US Mega Millions jackpot has been making headlines again. With a scheduled prize of $172 million (that's $22 million more than yesterday) for this Friday's (the 9th) drawing, many of us may take a break from Internet gambling in order to spend a few dollars playing for a chance to win the amazing jackpot.

This week, the excitement in Mega Millions is becoming unbelieveable. For last night's (Tues. 6th) drawing, over 850,000 tickets were winners, this included 8 tickets that each won $250,000. Again, no body won the big Mega prize, the $150 million jackpot. So the jackpot for the Friday, September 9 drawing grows to a scheduled $172 million.

Tuesday's winning Mega Millions numbers were 01-08-27-31-50 and the Mega Ball number was 40. Here is a complete breakdown of the 851,196 winning tickets:

The 8 tickets that nearly won the jackpot did so by matching the first five numbers and only missing the Mega Ball number. Those tickets were purchased in Massachusetts (2), Michigan (2), New Jersey (1), Ohio (1) and Texas (2).

Mega Millions is played in 12 states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

Mega Millions lottery drawings take place Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 PM Eastern, 10 PM Central and 8 PM Pacific Time.