LANSING, March 17, 2010 – With no winners in Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing, the jackpot for Friday has increased to $20 million, which means Michigan has dueling jackpots! This is the first time since the Lottery began selling Powerball tickets in February, that both jackpots are the same amount.

“We’re hoping a Michigan Lottery player will have the “Luck of the Irish” in tonight’s POWERBALL drawing,” said Lottery Commissioner M. Scott Bowen. “St. Patrick’s Day is a big day for our retailers; we hope it will be a big day for a Michigan Lottery player too!”

If a player wins tonight’s $20 million POWERBALL jackpot, he or she can choose to take the annuity option, paid out over 30 years, or a one-time payment of $9.6 million, less taxes.

If a player wins Friday night’s $20 million Mega Millions jackpot, he or she can choose to take the annuity option, paid out over 26 years, or a one-time payment of $12.4 million.

Over 98.5 cents of every dollar spent on Michigan Lottery tickets is returned to the state in the form of contributions to the state School Aid Fund, prizes to players and commissions to retailers. In fiscal year 2009, the contribution to schools was $724.5 million. Since its inception in 1972, the Lottery has contributed more than $15 billion to education in Michigan.

For additional information on POWERBALL and Mega Millions or other Michigan Lottery games, please visit the Lottery’s Web site at https://www.michiganlottery.com/.

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