Now the 3rd-largest lottery jackpot in history
By Todd Northrop
A rush of lottery ticket sales for the $1.025 billion Mega Millions jackpot has prompted lottery officials to revise their estimate for the Friday night drawing just one day after it was announced to $1.1 billion — an increase of $75 million.
The increased jackpot now ranks as the 3rd-largest lottery jackpot in history, and the 2nd-largest in Mega Millions game history.
The all-important lump-sum cash value is now estimated to be a staggering $648.2 million. Its ranking as the 4th-largest lottery cash value remains unchanged.
Friday's drawing will be the 30th since Mega Millions had a winner. The current jackpot run-up started on April 19 as a $20 million grand prize.
Lottery players seeking to check the winning numbers Friday night are urged to use USA Mega (www.usamega.com). State lottery websites are normally sluggish or brought to a standstill during busy periods, while USA Mega normally remains responsive.
Mega Millions drawing results will be posted immediately after the 11:00 pm drawing at USA Mega. The number of winners and new jackpot will be announced after all participating states have reported their data, which normally occurs within a few hours after the drawing.
Tickets sales cutoff times vary by state, so players should check with a lottery retailer in their state for the exact sales cutoff time Friday night. Players are strongly advised not to wait until the last minute to buy tickets.
To find the nearest lottery retailer to buy your tickets, head over to the Lottery Places website to download the free app on your iOS or Android phone or Windows computer. Lottery Places is the only app on the market that will locate lottery retailers in every state and jurisdiction throughout the United States.
Some state lotteries offer online ticket purchases, allowing players to bypass the store completely. Such is the case with Michigan and Virginia. Other states such as Minnesota, Orgeon, and Texas use a state-licensed courier service to enable online purchases. Players outside the USA can use a reputable butler service that delivers scanned images of the lottery tickets to verify the ticket purchase and ownership. In the past, the lottery ticket service was used by people out side the USA to win big jackpots in Oregon and Florida.
The odds of winning the jackpot are approximately 1 in 302 million. The odds of winning any of the Mega Millions prizes are 1 in 24.
Mega Millions tickets cost $2 each. For an extra $1 per ticket players can purchase the Megaplier option, which multiplies any non-jackpot won by up to 5 times, depending on the Megaplier number drawn that evening.
The only state that does not offer the Megaplier is California, because state law banning fixed lottery prize amounts is not compatible with the fixed nature of the Megaplier payouts.
Lottery players can see an after-tax analysis of the current Mega Millions jackpot by visiting USA Mega's Mega Millions Jackpot Analysis page.
Mega Millions features nine different prize levels, ranging from $2 all the way up to the jackpot. Players can win even if they just match one number — the Mega Ball number.
Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time
Friday's Mega Millions jackpot currently stands as the 3rd-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States.
- Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California, Florida, Tennessee
- Mega Millions: $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - South Carolina
- Mega Millions: $1.1 billion, Jul. 29, 2022 (29 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Mega Millions: $1.05 billion, Jan. 22, 2021 (36 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
- Powerball: $768.4 million, Mar. 27, 2019 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Wisconsin
- Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Massachusetts
- Powerball: $731.1 million, Jan. 20, 2021 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maryland
- Powerball: $699.8 million, Oct. 4, 2021 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
- Powerball: $687.8 million, Oct. 27, 2018 (21 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Iowa, New York
- Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 (18 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Mega Millions: $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013 (21 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - California, Georgia
- Powerball: $632.6 million, Jan 5, 2022 (39 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California, Wisconsin
- Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 (13 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Florida
- Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 (15 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Powerball: $559.7 million, Jan. 6, 2018 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $543 million, Jul. 24, 2018 (22 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
- Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 (34 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Indiana
- Mega Millions: $533 million, Mar. 30, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $522 million, Jun. 7, 2019 (24 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
- Mega Millions: $516 million, May 21, 2021 (26 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Pennsylvania
- Powerball: $487 million, Jul. 30, 2016 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
- Powerball: $473.1 million, Apr. 27, 2022 (30 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Arizona
- Powerball: $456.7 million, Mar. 17, 2018 (19 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Pennsylvania
- Mega Millions: $451 million, Jan. 5, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Florida
For those keeping score, the number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 14
- Mega Millions: 11
Top 25 cash value jackpots
Since many lottery winners collect their winnings in cash, the lump-sum payout is an important measure of what a winning ticket could be worth.
Looking at the cash value, the upcoming Mega Millions jackpot ranks as the 6th-largest cash value in U.S. history.
- Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
- Mega Millions: $877.8 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.537 billion annuity) - South Carolina
- Mega Millions: $776.6 million cash, Jan. 22, 2021 ($1.05 billion annuity) - Michigan
- Mega Millions: $648.2 million cash, Jul. 29, 2022 ($1.1 billion annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
- Powerball: $546.8 million cash, Jan. 20, 2021 ($731.1 million annuity) - Maryland
- Powerball: $496 million cash, Oct. 4, 2021 ($699.8 million annuity) - California
- Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
- Powerball: $477 million cash, Mar. 27, 2019 ($768.4 million annuity) - Wisconsin
- Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Powerball: $450.2 million cash, Jan. 5, 2022 ($632.6 million annuity) - California, Wisconsin
- Powerball: $396.2 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($687.8 million annuity) - Iowa, New York
- Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
- Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
- Powerball: $352 million cash, Jan. 6, 2018 ($559.7 million annuity) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $349.3 million cash, May 21, 2021 ($516 million annuity) - Pennsylvania
- Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($648 million annuity) - California, Georgia
- Powerball: $341.7 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $340 million cash, Jun. 7, 2019 ($522 million annuity) - California
- Mega Millions: $324 million cash, Mar. 30, 2018 ($533 million annuity) - New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $320.5 million cash, Jul. 24, 2018 ($543 million annuity) - California
- Mega Millions: $319.9 million cash, Jun. 9, 2020 ($414 million annuity) - Arizona
- Mega Millions: $314.4 million cash, Sep. 21, 2021 ($431 million annuity) - New York
- Mega Millions: $292.9 million cash, Jan. 28, 2022 ($426 million annuity) - California
The number of cash value jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 12
- Mega Millions: 13
Since I'm a betting man, I bet there will be at least one more increase before Friday's draw.
Thanks Todd & Kate for the update.
Kumarran (sp) just on the news from Cane's and said he'd buy tickets again and this would be last time. Not sure if it is believable or not.
Certainly it will increase in the 22 hours left before the drawing. (Realizing many states cut-off before 2300 Eastern time comes).
be nice if not so stingy and give like a thousand dollars to many players instead of to top businesses or high earning people,or one person.still haven't heard who won big pb in vermont yet.
After $700mil, I get confused with my analysis and play nitmal numbers and quick picks fr other places
This is where intuition sits in
I think it beats the record. There are still over 24 hours left.
1.5 billion by tomorrow? I don't think so. Maybe if it rolls to Tuesday.
a ticket hopefully will be sold.
There is a clue right there. Does it have quotes in the story?
My calculator can only handle eight figures, so I use the one in my phone or computer.
$1,100,000,000 simply amazing!
I'd be pissed if my boss spent that much on lottery tickets.
Especially after getting only a 40 cents/hr raise.
The Poisson probability of another rollover has fallen below 50%.
Here are the probabilities for various numbers of winners:
0 winners: 49.48%
1 winner: 34.81%
2 winners: 12.25%
3 winners: 2.87%
4 winners: 0.45%
Each number of winners greater than 4 has a probability of less than 0.1%, but most are still much, much, much larger than any single ticket being a winner.
What's a ballpark figure for jackpot in which after taxes
(ballpark bc it's diff for everybody taxwise) sole winner would be a billionaire? $2b,$1.8,1.7?
The lady in SC came close probably after the 1.5, but who knows for sure....I'd say at least 2.....
1 person? No, i want to see alot of good folks, all ages, younger, under 30, Middle age late 30s to all of 50s.
Let some senior citizen old people too past 65 to 80s. I want an ARRAY of good folks, to win this time, MORE than 1.
50 to 100 (minimum) winners with each pay out for the 4 numbers + the MEGA BALL $$$
50 winner's per 1 million dollars each with all 5 numbers, (no mega ball.) I pray this happen for more to win.
Then, I can come here & say, Ok, my loving father isn't right, saying it's all RIGGED when only 1 win." Might play finally.
I usually stick with winning awesomely every
other month with my Pick 4's. Good luck to everyone. Bye now.