The Mega Millions jackpot raced past the $500 million mark for Friday night’s drawing.

A winner in tonight’s drawing would have the choice of taking home the $535 million jackpot as an annuity or $265.6 million in cash. The jackpot jumped $8 million on Friday, going from $527 million to $535 million due to increased sales.

“The Mega Millions jackpot run continues with thousands of winners in North Carolina every drawing,” said Terri Rose, Chief Brand Officer of the N.C. Education Lottery. “Some prizes make your day. Some make your week. Hopefully someone in our state will bring home a life-changing jackpot tonight. Good luck.”

Check out how North Carolinians win when they play Mega Millions:

• 23,051: That’s the total number of winning tickets in North Carolina in Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing
• $7.4 million: That’s the estimate of how much money has been raised for education in North Carolina during the current Mega Millions run

The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302 million.

Players can buy Mega Millions tickets at any lottery retail location or through Online Play on the lottery’s website, www.nclottery.com, or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.

For details on how money raised by the lottery makes a difference for education programs in all 100 North Carolina counties, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.