For the fifth time in 20 years, the Mega Millions jackpot has more than $600 million up for grabs.
Friday’s jackpot is estimated to be around $630 million, according to Mega Millions’ website. There is also a one-time, lump-sum cash option of $359.7 million for the winner.
Friday’s jackpot is the fifth-largest prize to ever be offered in the game. In 2021, a player in Michigan won $1.05 billion. The biggest jackpot of all time – $1.537 billion – was won by someone in South Caroline in 2018.
For four months, the jackpot has only grown, as no ticket has yet to match all six numbers.
Tuesday night was no different, as nobody’s ticket corresponded with the white balls 2, 31, 32, 37 and 70, as well as the gold Mega Ball 25.
The next drawing is on Friday, marking the 28th in this particular jackpot run, which began April 19.
According to the website, there have been more than 17.9 million winning tickets at all prize levels, including 29 instances where at least $1 million was won.
Sixteen states have had people win those larger prizes: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.
A total of 2,380,347 winning tickets from all prize levels were drawn on Tuesday night.
According to the website, “four tickets matched the five white balls to win the big Mega Millions second prize, one each in Arizona, California, New Hampshire and North Carolina. Fifty-two tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the game’s third prize.”
The 41 other third-prize tickets scored $10,000 apiece.
If someone wins the multimillion-dollar jackpot on Friday’s drawing, they’d join a list of others who’ve become ludicrously wealthy overnight this year. Three other Mega Millions jackpots have already been won in 2022, with a $426 million prize in California on Jan. 28, a $128 million prize in New York on March 8 and $110 million in Minnesota on April 12.
BIGGEST MEGA MILLIONS POTS
1. $1.537 billion — Oct. 23, 2018
2. $1.05 billion — Jan. 22, 2021
3. $656 million — March 30, 2021
4. $648 million — Dec. 17, 2013
5. $630 million — July 22, 2022
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