The Mega Millions Lottery reached a hefty sum following Tuesday night's drawing. Carrying over to tomorrow night, Friday, February 23, the estimated jackpot is now worth $177 million. Previously worth $150 million, the jackpot was close to being won by three players, but fell short by missing only the Mega Ball number. The winning numbers on Tuesday were 1, 9, 26, 46, 51 with a Mega Ball draw on the number 11.

Despite missing out on the entire $150 million, the three winners on Tuesday night still won $250,000 each. The top winning tickets were purchased in New York, California and Virginia. There are actually twelve total states where Mega Millions is played, thus contributing to the sizable millionaire jackpots found at this multi-state lottery.All twelve states had winners for the last drawing, which produced a total of 1,104,038 winning tickets, paying out as little as $2 for matching the lone Mega Ball and as much as the aforementioned $250,000.

The other participating states in the Mega Millions Lottery are Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey, Texas and Washington. There is no doubt that residents in all of these states (and even nearby residents living close to state borders) will be buying tons of tickets for tomorrow night's drawing, which is scheduled to take place at 11:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Taking place every Tuesday and Friday night each week of the year, the ongoing jackpot has been building since January 9. Now, seven weeks and thirteen jackpot drawings later, the next winner of the Mega Millions jackpot will certainly be one happy customer.