So you have purchased a Mega Millions ticket and hope to convert yourself into a millionaire tonight? The time to tune in, then, will be tonight at 11 p.m. Eastern Time, which is when draw is set to take place at the studios of WSB-TV, Atlanta's ABC affiliate.

The lottery's jackpot has grown to a sizable $74 million. And if a lucky winner takes it home today, he or she will have the choice between having the total prize paid out in annual installments over a 29-year period or get an immediate payout of a lump sum of $48 million.

Before you agonize over that decision, however, you might want to consider that the winning the jackpot are about 1 in 259 million; the odds of winning any Mega Millions prize, however, are much better at about 1 in 15.

The game's drawings take place every Tuesday and Friday, and the draw entry closes at 10:45 p.m. Eastern Time. Mega Millions tickets are sold in 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands -- a total of 45 jurisdictions.

The lottery's winning numbers from the last drawing on April 21 were 31, 33, 35, 41 and 69; the Mega Ball number was 11; and the Multiplier was 5, according to the game's official website. The estimated jackpot had been $65 million, but no one matched the winning Mega Millions numbers on that day, MLive noted.

The highest payouts, thus, were three $1 million wins for players in New York, South Carolina and Virginia; they matched five numbers -- but not the Gold Mega Ball, the website added. No fewer than eight drawings have gone by since March 24, the last time a participant hit the jackpot on March 24.

On that occasion, the winning ticket was sold in the heart of New York City at World Books, just steps from Penn Station, according to Mega Millions. If you want to find out if you hold a slip worth millions this time around, you can watch a live stream of the drawing at 11 p.m. Eastern Time below.