Sixteen drawings have gone by since the last time a lucky winner took home the Mega Millions jackpot, which in turn is inching closer and closer to the $200 million threshold. As of this Friday, the lottery's big prize still remains at "only" $194 million.

If that will do for you and you have bought a ticket in hopes of converting yourself into a multimillionaire, the time to tune in is 11 p.m. Eastern Time; that is when the current drawing will take place at the studios of WSB-TV, Atlanta's ABC affiliate.

If someone finally cracks the jackpot tonight, he or she will have the choice between having the total prize paid out in annual installments over a 29-year period or an immediate payout of a lump sum of $117 million. Before you agonize over that decision, however, you might want to consider that the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 259 million.

Mega Millions drawings take place every Tuesday and Friday, and the draw entry closes at 10:45 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets to the game are sold in 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands -- a total of 45 jurisdictions. And while hitting the jackpot is a true feat, the odds of winning any prize are much better at about 1 in 15.

The lottery's winning numbers from the last drawing on May 19 were 10, 12, 21, 29 and 65; the Mega Ball number was 10; and the Megaplier number was 5, according to the game's official website.

The estimated jackpot had been $173 million, but no one has matched the Mega Millions numbers since March 24, MLive noted. The highest payout was a $1 million win for an Ohio player who matched five numbers -- but not the Gold Mega Ball, the website added.

The last time a participant hit the top prize, 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 Friday's drawing at 11 p.m. Eastern Time below.