Ticket machines around New Jersey worked a bit harder on Tuesday in anticipation of the Mega Millions jackpot $257 million. But that jackpot is now up to $291 million for Friday's drawing as no one took home Tuesday's grand prize.

The numbers drawn Tuesday night were: 7, 12, 41, 44, 59 and the Mega Ball was 3. The megaplier was 3. One ticket was sold with all of the first five numbers, but not the Mega Ball. That ticket is now worth $1 million.

The Jackson Deli in the Cassville section of Jackson displays Mega Millions jackpot
The Jackson Deli in the Cassville section of Jackson displays Mega Millions jackpot (Dan Alexander, Townsquare Media NJ)
loading...

The multi-state lottery that sells tickets for $1 per play has not had a winner in 17 drawings going back to October 1.   Tuesday's jackpot had a cash value of $139 million.

Mega Millions made several rule changes in October to allow for higher, faster growing jackpots without raising the ticket price. The game's minimum jackpot is now $15 million and will rollover a minimum $5 million when there is no jackpot winner.The game's second prize rose to $1 million and utilizes an optional "Megaplier" feature that increases the jackpot for winner who match that number as well.

New Jersey has been a very lucky state for jackpot winners in the Powerball and Mega Millions games. Angel Guallpa-Mayancela of Orange claimed a jackpot of $89 million in January, Giuseppe “Joe” Garofalo of Tinton Falls won a $99 million jackpot in May while Darryl and Judy Smith of Mays Landing also won a $30 million jackpot in May.

Those winnings were overshadowed by the larger jackpots for Powerball also sold in New Jersey this year. Two of three winning Powerball tickets for a $411 million jackpot in August were sold to the "Ocean's 16" group of Ocean County employees who pooled their money to purchase a ticket and Mario Scarnici of Monmouth Junction.

Pedro Quezada of Passaic won a $338 million Powerball jackpot in March but has since run into legal issues with a former girlfriend who claims she should be awarded part of the jackpot since they have been in a relationship for 10 years, have a child together and are business partners in a Passaic grocery store.

Tickets for Mega Millions are sold in 43 states and the District of Columbia including New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Be the first to know what Tuesday's Mega Millions numbers are by texting NEWS to 89000.

NJ 101.5 SMS Alerts (Max 8msg/mth); T&C and Privacy Policy at 89000.mobi. Reply STOP to opt-out or HELP for help.  Msg & Data rates may apply.

Patrick Lavery contributed to this report.

More From 94.3 The Point