It is not too late for certain U.S. residents to place their bids on an estimated  $212 million lottery jackpot.  Called the Mega Millions, it is a multi-state lottery that often develops jackpots in the hundreds of millions when they carry over from drawing to drawing. 

Mega Millions is a lottery designed to produce large jackpots and several winners.  And so far it is living up to its name.  Taking bets from players in twelve different U.S. states the pool of money has the potential of growing much larger than solitary state lotteries.  Also, the main jackpot is harder to win than typical lotteries, making a carryover more possible.  Yet, there are more winners of fewer numbers, thus spreading the jackpot to a larger reach of players.

This particular jackpot has been building since January 6, which means that it is coming up on nearly two months of carried over winnings.  To be exact, there has been thirteen drawings in which no player has won the main jackpot.  The latest drawing alone sold over 1.2 million wining tickets, which is impressive for even a multi-state lottery.

For those who reside in California,  Maryland, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Michigan and Ohio, tickets need to be purchased before 11:00 pm on Friday, February 24, 2006.  All jackpot drawings are twice a week on Tuesday's and Friday's at 11:00 pm Eastern Time in the U.S.