Mega Millions Winning Numbers for the Jackpot on Friday, July 8

UPDATED AT 10:20 P.M.: The winning numbers for Friday night's Mega Millions Jackpot are 8 19 20 55 73 Mega ball 5.

The winning ticket for the multi state Mega Millions draw was sold in Indiana, netting the winner a $540 million jackpot spread out over 30 years or a lump sum of $380 million, before federal taxes.

Another 10 lucky winners had five of the six winning numbers, but none of those tickets were sold in California. They each won $1 million.

No tickets with all six numbers for Friday's draw of the multi-state Mega Millions lottery were sold in California, a California Lottery official said.

Millions of Californians were hoping Friday would be the day their world changes. The Mega Millions jackpot has reached passed the half-BILLION mark, with an estimated $540 million on the line.

The cash option for the jackpot is valued at $380 million.

“The excitement is palpable as this is the largest American lottery jackpot since the world record $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot in January,” said Paula Otto, executive director of the Virginia Lottery and lead director for the Mega Millions group. “Sales are expected to grow stronger right up until Friday night’s drawing.”

It's been four months since a Mega Millions jackpot has been won, so it's been rolling – and growing exponentially – since March 8. It started at just $15 million.

SEE ALSO: What Time is Tonight's Mega Millions Drawing?

Though it's not the largest ever Mega Millions prize, which was $656 million in 2012, excitement and anticipation are building, and ticket sales reflect that. In California alone, more than 1.6 million tickets were sold Friday morning between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., California Lottery officials tell Patch. Since Tuesday, more than 11 million tickets were purchased in the Golden State.

If tonight's jackpot is won, it would become the seventh largest American lottery jackpot.

The largest jackpot ever won was in January, when a $1.586 billion prize was split by three tickets. One of those winners was also from Southern California, when a ticket was sold at a Chino Hills 7-Eleven.

The winner of that prize has still yet to come forward, according to lottery officials. He or she has one year to claim their winnings.

NEED A TICKET?

The California Lottery has compiled a list of stores throughout the state that have paid out big in the last year, dubbing them “lucky retailers.”

Click here to search for all California Lottery retailers. Click on "lucky retailers" if you want to buy your ticket from a spot that paid out large amounts of prizes to players in the last calendar year.

HOW TO PLAY MEGA MILLIONS

Tickets cost $1. In order to play, you must pick six numbers – five different numbers from 1 to 75 and one "mega" number from 1 to 15. You can also get a "quick pick" and let the computer do the choosing for you.

You win the jackpot by matching all six numbers.

However, even if you match certain numbers in other combinations, you can still win big. In most states, the "consolation" prizes top at $1 million, but in California they are "pari-mutual," "meaning payouts are based on sales and the number of winners," according to the Mega Millions website. That's why a Temecula resident was able to win $2.3 million on Tuesday, when they matched five numbers.

Odds of winning the jackpot are one in 258,890,850, according to Mega Millions.

Mega Millions is played in 44 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia.

(Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone)