Those who feel lucky have the chance on Tuesday night to win the jackpot estimated at 865 million dollars for Mega Millions, the biggest game in at least two years. The reward reached those heights, as he has not been a winner since mid-September.
A payment of 865 million dollars would be the second largest for Mega Millions, behind a bonus of 1.54 billion dollars earned in 2018.
Each Mega Millions ticket costs $ 2, and winners must match six numbers, including the Mega Ball, to take home the full amount.
The single cash option for Tuesday’s jackpot was at least $ 638.8 million. Taking the lump sum value of the jackpot in cash is an option favored by most winners. Otherwise, the jackpot is spread over 30 years.
If no one matches all the winning numbers on Tuesday night, the next draw on Friday night will have an estimated jackpot of $ 970 million, according to Mega Millions.
Tuesday’s Mega Millions winning numbers
- 10, 19, 26, 28, 50
- Mega Ball: 16
- Megaplicator: 2x
Mega Millions tickets are sold in 44 states, Washington, DC and the US Virgin Islands.
Meanwhile, the Powerball lottery jackpot has risen to $ 730 million. The winning numbers will be drawn on Wednesday night.
Even with both jackpots combined, they still fade compared to the biggest prize, a $ 1.58 billion Powerball jackpot won by three players in 2016. The Mega Millions jackpot was last won in Wisconsin on September 15, 2020, when a single winner won a $ 120 million ticket. The game was won five times last year, with a $ 414 million jackpot being the biggest prize in June, according to officials.
The chances of winning a jackpot are reduced to 1 in 302.5 million for Mega Millions and 1 in 292.2 million for Powerball.
The following are the 10 largest Mega Millions jackpots in history, along with where the tickets were purchased:
- $ 1.54 billion – a winning ticket in South Carolina (October 2018)
- $ 656 million – three winning tickets in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland (March 2012)
- $ 648 million – two winning tickets in California and Georgia (December 2013)
- $ 615 million – unknown if winners (January 2021)
- $ 543 million – a winning ticket in California (July 2018)
- $ 536 million – a winning ticket in Indiana (July 2016)
- $ 533 million – a winning ticket in New Jersey (March 2018)
- $ 522 million – a winning ticket in California (June 2019)
- $ 451 million – a winning ticket in Florida (January 2018)
- $ 437 million – a winning ticket to New York (January 2019)
The Associated Press contributed to this report.