A few people came close to winning it all in Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing, but they fell one ball short of cashing in on the massive jackpot. No one won the $830 million payout, and the estimated prize for Friday night's drawing has grown to over a billion dollars.
The winning numbers Tuesday were 7-29-60-63-66 with a Mega Ball of 15.
According to Mega Millions, nine tickets matched the first five numbers but didn't match the Mega Ball. The game's Megaplier feature was purchased for one of those tickets, raising its prize to $3 million, while the rest won a million dollars.
Two of the million-dollar tickets were purchased in New Jersey, two were bought in New York and others were sold in California, Florida, Illinois and Ohio. The $3 million winner was also from Ohio.
Mega Millions says 156 tickets matched four of the first five numbers and the Mega Ball. Three dozen tickets had the Megaplier feature, raising their prize to $30,000, while the rest won $10,000.
With inflation taking a toll on Americans' wallets and high prices at the pump, any kind of a windfall has its appeal.
"Even a thousand bucks would help," a woman told CBS Minnesota. "With gas prices, just saying."
With the one-time cash-option payout now over half a billion dollars — as opposed to an annual payment spread over 30 years — people still have a chance to win big.
"I don't think anybody would know what to do with it, right?" Omar Castillo told CBS News Radio as he was buying tickets in Los Angeles before Tuesday night's drawing. "I mean, it's just a large amount."
Alex Sundby is a senior editor for CBSNews.com