ATLANTA — An eye-popping jackpot of more than $1 billion has people all around Georgia and the rest of the country feeling lottery fever.
Friday's top prize is now the second largest jackpot in the game's history and the third largest for any lottery game in the nation. The cash option would be $648.2 million.
The next Mega Millions drawing is on Friday, July 29 at 11 p.m. ET. The game is played on Tuesday and Friday nights in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
If you're in Georgia and looking to take your shot, here are a few things to know:
Can I use my card to buy Mega Millions tickets?
Generally speaking, not if you're at a store.
If your plan is to stop at a gas station or other convenience store and grab a couple tickets, for instance, in most cases they'll require you to pay for them in cash. So keep that in mind.
But....
Can I buy Mega Millions tickets online?
You can!
The Georgia Lottery website allows you to make a purchase online, and for this you can obviously use your card number.
Keep in mind you'll have to register an account to play online. You will also need to download either the Georgia Lottery app or a location-verification program onto your computer so they know you're in Georgia.
It's generally pretty easy: Use a drop down menu to select how many plays (tickets) you want to buy, then use another drop-down menu to select how many drawings you want to enter (this option will automatically enter your same numbers into future drawings if you select more than one for Friday night).
Then you can either pick your own numbers or use the "Quik Pik" option to have it filled in randomly for you. Then you have the option of playing the Megaplier and then you're done!
There's also a quick buy option on the web page that will let you purchase either one, three or five tickets with automatically generated numbers.
Here are some more detailed instructions from the Georgia Lottery website for playing online:
- Select the number of plays (tickets) you want to purchase, then select the number of times (drawings) you want to play each ticket.
- Choose 5 numbers from 1 to 70 and a MEGA BALL number from 1 to 25 or select Quik Pik to have the computer randomly select your numbers.
- Increase your non-jackpot Mega Millions prize by up to 5 times by selecting the Megaplier option, wihch will apply to all plays purchased.
- Each play costs $2 times the number of drawings played. Selecting Megaplier will add $1 per play, per draw.
- Review the details of your ticket(s) and select Buy Now.
- Your ticket(s) will be entered into the next drawing. If you win a prize up to and including $600, it will be paid automatically to your account. If you win a larger prize, you'll receive an email with instructions on how to claim your winnings.