Mega Millions Jackpot Soars to $681 Million Ahead of Tonight’s Drawing

Feeling lucky? The Mega Millions jackpot has reached $681 million for Tuesday’s drawing.
If the jackpot winner opts for the cash option, they will receive $337.1 million.
There were no jackpot winners in Friday’s drawing, which had an estimated grand prize of $627 million. One player in Florida matched five numbers, earning a prize of $1 million. A player in Wisconsin matched five numbers and selected the “Megaplier” option, earning them $4 million in winnings.
The numbers for Friday’s drawing were 10, 17, 20, 24 and 54 with the gold “Mega Ball” 8.
Friday’s drawing is at 11 p.m. ET. Winning numbers are posted on the Mega Millions website.
The tickets cost $2 and players can add the “Megaplier” option for an extra dollar.
The Mega Millions lottery began in 1996, known as The Big Game at the time. The first drawing was on September 6 of that year, and it was only available in Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Virginia.
A Tuesday drawing was added to the game in 1998.
New Jersey joined the lottery in 1997. New York and Ohio joined in 2002, and the name was changed to Mega Millions.
More states began participating in the lottery over the years. It is now played in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are approximately 1 in 302.6 million.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot in the game’s history was won on August 8, 2023. The jackpot was valued at $1.602 billion.
The second largest jackpot was won on October 23, 2018. The single winning ticket was sold in South Carolina. The winner decided to remain anonymous and took the lump sum payout of $877.8 million.
On January 13, 2023, a Mega Millions lottery player in Maine won $1.348 billion. The jackpot was the third largest in the game’s history. The individual was the first Mega Millions winner in the state. They also opted for a lump sum payment.
The fourth largest jackpot, $1.337 billion, was recorded just one year prior. The winning ticket for the July 29, 2022, drawing was sold in Illinois. The winner took the lump sum payment of around $780.5 million.
Earlier this year, the winning ticket for the fifth largest jackpot was sold in New Jersey. The March 26, 2024 drawing’s jackpot totaled $1.128 billion.
No one has won the Mega Millions jackpot since June 4, when an anonymous player in Illinois matched all six numbers on a ticket purchased online through the Illinois lottery.
The jackpot totaled $552 million at the time of the drawing.
Prior to that, the last jackpot won was the historic $1.128 billion awarded to a New Jersey player.
By this time last year, eight Mega Millions jackpot winning tickets had been sold.
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