Weekend Drawings Offer Big Jackpots And A Guaranteed Pick 3 ‘Double Draw’

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (News Release) — An unusual lineup of lottery drawings occurs this weekend with Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots adding up together to $777 million and a guaranteed ‘Double Draw’ in Friday’s Carolina Pick 3 evening drawing.

The fun begins Friday night with a Mega Millions jackpot of $368 million as an annuity, or $263.7 million cash.

Next, in a rare occurrence, two Carolina Pick 3 drawings will happen Friday night, giving North Carolinians two chances to win the game’s top prize of $500 with one ticket. Players normally don’t know if there will be two drawings, but Friday night two are guaranteed as a result of the lottery’s Double Draw promotion for its Pick 3 game.

Then, on Saturday night, the Powerball jackpot weighs in $409 million as an annuity, or $295.7 million cash.

“These are some of our most popular draw games so it’s exciting to see this lineup of drawings this weekend,” said Mark Michalko, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery. “You could win a Pick 3 prize that will make your weekend or a jackpot that could change your life.”

Carolina Pick 3 is the lottery’s most popular draw game and its two daily drawings deliver thousands of prizes to its players.

The lottery conducts a Double Draw promotion to add more fun to the game. During the month of the promotion, a Double Draw machine is added to each evening drawing. The Double Draw machine begins with six white balls and one Red Ball. Any night a Red Ball is drawn then two Pick 3 drawings are held. An extra drawing occurs at least once a week.

A second Pick 3 drawing is guaranteed Friday night because a Red Ball is the only ball left in the Double Draw machine. Last Friday, the Double Draw produced 3,500 extra wins totaling more than $457,000 and in March a Double Draw produced 5,230 extra wins totaling more than $672,000.

The odds of matching all three numbers and winning $500 in the Pick 3 game is 1 in 1,000. The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.5 million. The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million.

Ticket sales from the three draw games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million per year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.