Mega-Millions Jackpot Is An Estimated $540 Million

It's worth a couple of bucks to play, right?

You may have noticed as you get your morning coffee and gas at the local mart, that there is a lot of money up for grabs this weekend, beginning Friday night.

The Mega Millions jackpot is hovering around 540 million. Which brings to mind a saying from the great Paul Hornung "won money is better than earned money".

With slightly better odds than the Powerball game, it's rare that nearly four months passes without someone winning a Mega Millions jackpot. Tuesday marked the 34th time the jackpot has rolled over without a winner. The previous record was 22 rolls.

The biggest jackpot in Mega Millions' history was $656 million in 2012, with winning tickets purchased in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.

Those hoping to win the jackpot will need to match six numbers, five numbers ranging from 1-75 and a sixth in a range from 1-15 in order to win. Beyond winning a jackpot, there are a wide array of prizes for those who don’t pick all six numbers ranging from $1 (earned by picking the right number on the sixth ball while making no other correct picks) to $1,000,000 (earned by matching all five balls in the 1-75 range).

By the way, not to be outdone, This Saturday's Powerball drawing is worth an estimated $288 million