Two Arizona Lottery ticket buyers have some cash to invest in today’s near-record Mega Millions drawing after scoring hefty jackpots over the weekend.

A player won more than $975,000 by hitting the Triple Twist jackpot on July 24 with a ticket purchased at the Circle K, 13828 N. 35th Ave., Phoenix, according to the Arizona Lottery.

A day earlier, a player held a ticket purchased at the Safeway, 13828 W. Waddell Road, Surprise, that paid $152,000 in the Fantasy 5.

Nice wins, but small change compared to tonight’s Mega Million jackpot, which  is the nation's fourth-largest jackpot.

But is $800 million, give or take a few dollars, worth 2 bucks?

ISN'T IT AN OBVIOUS QUESTION?

Not really.

To start with, your chance of winning the grand prize is minuscule, at one in 302.5 million. You have better odds of a smaller payoff, such as winning $1 million for matching five regular numbers but missing the Mega Ball. But even that is one in 12.6 million.

To put that in perspective, your chance of dying in a car crash — something to consider as you drive to the mini-mart for a lottery ticket — is around one in 101 over a lifetime, according to the nonprofit National Safety Council.

As lottery officials note, players should think of their $2 bet as a chance to dream while accepting the reality they likely won’t be entering a new income tax bracket Tuesday night.

STILL, A SHOT AT $800 MILLION SEEMS WORTH $2

Ah, but even if you somehow beat the odds you are not going to get $800 million.

First, that’s the amount for winners who take the annuity option, paid over 30 annual payments. But winners nearly always opt for cash, cutting that $800 million considerably.

And then there are federal taxes, which will slice off 37% off that cash prize and state taxes could cut in to that amount as well, depending on where the winner lives.

Still a fortune, but a smaller fortune. That also doesn’t account for the possibility someone else will match the winning numbers, meaning they would need to divide even those smaller winnings in half or more, depending on the number of lucky players.

NEARLY $300 MILLION ISN’T CHUMP CHANGE

It is definitely a big paycheck.

To put that in perspective, consider that the median U.S. household income in 2020 was $67,500, meaning a lifetime of work at that rate would be less than 1% of even the smaller jackpot after taxes.

But sadly, if you had won that same prize a year ago, before the nation endured a year with an inflation rate of about 9%, your buying power would have been significantly higher.

BUT SOMEONE WILL WIN

Eventually, though the reason the grand prize has grown so large is because no one has matched all six numbers since April. That's 28 consecutive drawings without someone hitting the jackpot.

With so many people playing now that the potential top prize is so large, it becomes increasingly likely that someone or multiple players will finally end that streak. Still, past prizes have grown larger, as the biggest payday was a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot won in 2016.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The game is overseen by state lottery officials.

SO, IS IT WORTH GAMBLING $2

If you have fun dreaming of a massive windfall that most likely won’t actually blow your way, buy a ticket. But if you need to watch your money, consider keeping the $2 in your wallet.

Independent Newsmedia contributed to this story.