What days are Mega Millions drawings?: What you need to know to play

As the Mega Millions jackpot continues to climb, all eyes are shifting to the next drawing and its $825 million estimated jackpot.

Mega Millions is a lottery game costing $2 per play where players pick five numbers from 1 to 70 and a one gold Mega Ball number from 1 to 25. If a player doesn't want to pick the number, they can do a Quick Pick where the machine will randomly pick their numbers.

To win the jackpot, a player must match all six numbers, including the Mega Ball.

Here's what you need to know about when the next drawing it:

When do Mega Millions drawings take place? Here are the Mega Millions drawing days

Mega Millions drawings take place every week on Tuesdays and Fridays.

What time are Mega Millions drawings?

Mega Millions drawings take place at 11 p.m. Eastern, which is 10 p.m. Central, 9 p.m. Mountain, and 8 p.m. Pacific time.

What days are Powerball drawings?

Powerball drawings take place Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m.

When is the next Mega Millions drawing?

The next Mega Millions drawing will be held Friday, Dec. 20 at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.

What is the Mega Millions jackpot for Friday's drawing?

The jackpot for Friday's drawing currently sits at an estimate of $825 million with a cash option of $382.2 million.

If won at $825 million, it would be the largest prize ever won in December and the seventh largest in the game's history, according to Mega Millions.

Mega Millions December 17 drawing

The winning numbers from Tuesday, Dec. 17's Mega Millions drawing were: 56, 66, 67, 68, 69 and Mega Ball 18.

While there were no jackpot winner in Tuesday's Dec. 17 drawing, there were 1,602,721 winning tickets, including one sold in North Carolina worth $4 million, according to the lottery.

How much does a Mega Millions ticket cost?

Mega Millions tickets currently costs $2 to play in 2024.

Starting in April, Mega Millions tickets will jump from $2 to $5, but the lottery said that price increase will lead to bigger prizes.

When was the last Mega Millions jackpot won?

The last time a player won the Mega Millions jackpot was on Sept. 10, when the jackpot was $800 million.

The winning ticket was sold in Texas. It was won by the Sol Living Trust of Sugar Land, Texas.

Prior to that, a $552 million jackpot was won June 4 in Illinois and a $1.128 billion prize was won in New Jersey in Neptune Township on March 26.

Top Mega Millions jackpots in history

The top Mega Millions jackpots in history are:

• $1.602 billion - 8/8/2023 - 1 winning ticket in Florida
• $1.537 billion - 10/23/2018 - 1 winning ticket in South Carolina
• $1.348 billion - 1/13/2023 - 1 winning ticket in Maine
• $1.337 billion - 7/29/2022 - 1 winning ticket in Illinois
• $1.128 billion - 3/26/2024 - 1 winning ticket in New Jersey
• $1.050 billion - 1/22/2021 - 1 winning ticket in Michigan
• $825 million - 12/20/2024 - set for Friday's drawing, number is an estimate
• $810 million - 9/10/2024 - 1 winning ticket in Texas
• $656 million - 3/30/2012 - 3 winning tickets in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland
• $648 million - 12/17/2013 - 2 winning tickets in California and Georgia

If you or someone you know has a gambling addiction, please call the National Council on Problem Gambling at 1-800-522-4700 to speak to a counselor. Help is also available via an online peer support forum at www.gamtalk.org, and additional resources can be found at NCPG website.