Mega Millions

Five Hundred and Forty Million Dollars

Yes, the lottery is a hugely regressive tax.

$540,000,000.00

Yes, the odds are amazingly long at 176 million to 1.

Half a Billion Dollars plus.

The drawing is Friday at 11 PM EDT.

Think of all the endowments you could fund. The relatives you could ease into retirement. Friend's mortgages you could make disappear. The niece's student loan you could pay off. The Super PAC you could support. The chocolate ice cream factory you could own.

Someone is going to win this money, wouldn't you do more for the world if it were you rather than the guy who will buy 147 all terrain vehicles.

1:25 PM EDT Friday - Tonight's jackpot is now calculated to be $640,000,000. There is a statistical possibility of about 5% that the winning numbers will not line up tonight, which would mean a prize of one billion dollars for the next drawing on Tuesday.