Mega Millions Jackpot Now Worth Over $1 Billion
Last Friday evening, the Mega Millions jackpot worth $940 million wasn’t won and it has now reached $1.05 billion. The jackpot has rolled over for the 29th time and it hasn’t been won since April 18.
The winning numbers in the previous draw were 5, 10, 28, 52, 63, with the Mega Ball 18 and the Megaplier 5x. No one managed to match all six numbers, however there were over 3 million winners in total. Make sure you check the prize payouts and see if you are one of the lucky winners. Five players almost grabbed the jackpot but only matched five numbers. Four of them matched five numbers without the Mega Ball and won $1 million each while the fifth one played the Megaplier and took home $5 million.
Climbing to the top
Currently, the jackpot is not many rollovers away from becoming the biggest grand prize in the history of the game. So which prizes will it have to surpass?
The biggest Mega Millions jackpot ever, worth $1.537 billion, was won five years ago in October 2018 by one player from South Carolina who went for the cash option of $877.7 million. Second place was won in January this year by a single ticket holder in Maine and was worth $1.348 billion. Similarly, they went for the cash option of $723.5 million. The third biggest jackpot was won last summer in July by a duo who went for the cash option of $780.5 million. The jackpot on the fourth place is worth exactly as much as the current jackpot, $1.05 billion - it was won in January 2021 by a four-member lottery club and was not claimed for two months. The winners decided to take the cash option as well, worth $776 million.
The cash option for the jackpot is worth $527.9 million and it seems like all top five jackpot winners went for this option.
Wondering if you would go for the cash lump or annuity if you won the jackpot? Take a look on our Tickets page and you might have to make that decision sooner than you think. Besides Mega Millions, the Powerball jackpot is also continuously rising and is now worth $95 million with a cash value of $48.1 million.
Published: Tuesday, August 1, 2023