ATLANTA – As a result of increased ticket sales, lottery officials announced today that the Mega Millions jackpot has been bumped from $220 million to $225 MILLION for tonight's drawing. It only takes $1 for Georgia Lottery players to have a chance to win big.

"With tickets selling at a brisk pace, we have raised the Mega Millions jackpot," said Georgia Lottery Corp. President and CEO Margaret DeFrancisco. "This is great news because increased sales translate into additional dollars for the HOPE Scholarship and Pre-K programs we fund."

Mega Millions offers players two payment options: 26 annual payments in equal installments or a single payment worth the cash value of the estimated jackpot. Any lucky Mega Millions player who matches all five white ball numbers, along with the Mega Ball number, could walk away with approximately $8.6 million a year (before taxes) for 26 years with the annuity option. Or a player could select the cash option and win a single payment worth approximately $143 million (before taxes).

Any Georgia Lottery retailer who sells a winning Mega Millions jackpot ticket can earn the $25,000 retailer incentive bonus payment. If more than one winning jackpot ticket is sold in Georgia, the retailers selling the winning tickets will share the $25,000 retailer incentive bonus.

As with all Georgia Lottery games, proceeds from Mega Millions will benefit education in the state of Georgia.