Last Chance: Get Your Mega Millions Tickets Before 10:45 p.m. Friday

Feeling lucky? 

For $540 million, even those who normally don't buy lottery tickets are lining up to buy them as the drawing for the latest Mega Millions jackpot approaches Friday evening. The $540 million prize is the largest in lottery history. 

The drawing will take place at 11 p.m. Friday evening, but no sales of Mega Millions tickets will be allowed after 10:45 p.m., so if you want in on a chance to claim the staggering prize you had better purchase a ticket before then. 

Connecticut is one of 42 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the Virgin Islands, that participates in Mega Millions. Players pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers, but win the jackpot by matching all six winning numbers in a drawing. Friday's drawing will be held in Atlanta. 

A jackpot winner would have the choice of receiving the full prize in 26 annual payments of about $20.7 million, or a cash option of approximately $389.8 million, according to the Mega Millions website. 

The current jackpot has been growing since Jan. 24, rolling over 18 times without a winner. The odds of winning Friday's jackpot are approximately one in 176 million, according to the Mega Millions website, while the odds of winning any of the Mega Millions prizes are approximately 1 in 40.