MARCH 27, 2024, UPDATE:
NEPTUNE, N.J. (AP) — Someone in New Jersey who bought a single ticket overcame the odds Tuesday night (March 26, 2024) and won the $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot, breaking a winless streak that dated to last December.
The numbers drawn were: 7, 11, 22, 29, 38 and the gold Mega Ball 4. State lottery officials said the winning ticket was sold at ShopRite Wines & Spirits of Neptune, which is located on the Jersey Shore. It was the biggest jackpot win in state history, according to New Jersey Lottery officials.
The person holding the winning ticket has not yet come forward to claim the prize, lottery officials said during a news conference Wednesday. Lottery winners can remain anonymous in New Jersey, under a law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in 2020. New Jersey is one of 18 states where lottery winners can remain anonymous.
The winning ticket was bought Tuesday night by someone who chose the numbers themselves instead of using the system’s Quick Pick option, lottery officials said.
The retailer will receive a $30,000 bonus from the lottery for selling the ticket.
Richard Saker, the president and chief executive officer of Saker ShopRites, which operates the store, said the bonus money would be donated to Fulfill, a community food bank that serves the Jersey Shore, through ShopRite’s Partners in Caring program.
Until the latest drawing, no one had matched all six numbers and won the Mega Millions jackpot since Dec. 8. That amounted to 30 straight drawings without a big winner.
It’s tough to win the Mega Millions jackpot because the odds are so long, at 1 in 302.6 million.
The prize is the 8th largest in U.S. lottery history.
The $1.13 billion jackpot is for a winner who is paid through an annuity, with an initial payment and then 29 annual payments. Most winners choose a cash payout, which would be $537.5 million.
The next big U.S. lottery drawing will be Wednesday night for an estimated $865 million Powerball jackpot. No one has won that prize since New Year’s Day, making for 36 drawings without a winner.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is played in those states as well as Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
MARCH 27, 2024:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Someone in New Jersey overcame the odds Tuesday night (March 26, 2024) and won the $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot, breaking a winless streak that dated to last December.
The numbers drawn were: 7, 11, 22, 29, 38 and the gold Mega Ball 4. The winning ticket was sold in New Jersey, according the the Mega Millions website.
Until the latest drawing, no one had matched all six numbers and won the Mega Millions jackpot since Dec. 8. That amounted to 30 straight drawings without a big winner.
It’s tough to win the Mega Millions jackpot because the odds are so long, at 1 in 302.6 million.
The prize is the 8th largest in U.S. lottery history.
The $1.13 billion jackpot is for a winner who is paid through an annuity, with an initial payment and then 29 annual payments. Most winners choose a cash payout, which would be $537.5 million.
The next big U.S. lottery drawing will be Wednesday night for an estimated $865 million Powerball jackpot. No one has won that prize since New Year’s Day, making for 36 drawings without a winner.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is played in those states as well as Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
MARCH 26, 2024:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Another day, another giant lottery jackpot.
Next up is an estimated $1.12 billion Mega Millions prize on Tuesday night (March 26, 2024), enticing players who hope to win the eighth-largest prize in U.S. lottery history even though no one has won the jackpot since Dec. 8, 2023. That is 30 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner.
Miss out on that drawing? No problem. There will be a drawing Wednesday night for an estimated $865 million Powerball jackpot. No one has won that prize either since New Year’s Day, making for 36 drawings without a winner.
For both games, the long drought of jackpots is no accident. The games have long odds specifically to create large jackpots that will generate lots of interest and sales.
For Mega Millions, the odds are 1 in 302.6 million, and for Powerball they are 1 in 292.2 million.
The $1.12 billion Mega Millions prize is for a sole winner who chooses to be paid through an annuity over 30 years. A winner who opts for a cash payout would get $537.5 million.
Those winnings would be subject to federal taxes, and some states also tax lottery winnings.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is played in those states as well as Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
MARCH 25, 2024:
UNDATED (AP)- The stars have aligned in the lottery universe like never before, with two jackpots totaling nearly $2 billion. With an estimated $1.1 billion Mega Millions prize and an estimated $800 million Powerball jackpot, it’s the first time the two nearly national lottery games have each grown so large at the same time. Both massive prizes are the results of months without a big winner, but the larger jackpots entice more people to play the games, increasing the odds that someone, somewhere, will finally hit it rich. The next Powerball drawing is Monday night (March 25, 2024). Numbers for the Mega Millions jackpot will be drawn Tuesday night (March 26, 2024).
MARCH 24, 2024:
MARCH 22, 2024:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A nearly $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot will be up for grabs Friday night (March 22, 2024), offering the prospect of instant riches for a lucky player after more than three months without a big winner.
The numbers will be drawn at 11 p.m. EDT for the estimated $977 million Mega Millions prize. The jackpot ranks as the 10th largest in U.S. lottery history.
No one has won the game’s jackpot since Dec. 8, a string of 29 consecutive drawings without anyone matching all of the game’s six numbers. That has enabled the jackpot to slowly grow, week after week.
The $977 million prize is for a sole winner who chooses to be paid through an annuity over 30 years. Winners almost always opt for a cash payment, which for Friday’s drawing would be an estimated $461 million.
The other U.S. lottery game, Powerball, also has grown to be nearly as large, with an annuity jackpot of $750 million and a cash payout of $357.3 million. The next Powerball drawing is scheduled to take place Saturday night.
MARCH 21, 2024:
UNDATED (AP)- The winning numbers for a nearly $1 billion Mega Millions lottery prize will offer sudden riches to any lucky player who matches them and almost certain disappointment for everyone else. The numbers will be drawn Friday night (March 22, 2024). The Mega Millions jackpot has grown to an estimated $977 million thanks to more than three months without a winner of the top prize. That reflects the incredibly long odds of winning the jackpot. It ranks as the 10th largest in the U.S. — about half the size of a record $2.04 billion Powerball prize won in November 2022.
MARCH 20, 2024:
UNDATED (AP)- The Mega Millions jackpot has reached $977 million for Friday night’s drawing after no tickets matched all six numbers drawn on Tuesday night (March 19, 2024).
The winning numbers drawn on Tuesday were 24, 46, 49, 62, 66 and the gold Mega Ball was 7. The estimated jackpot was $893 million with a cash prize of $421.4 million. The cash prize for Friday’s drawing is $461 million.
Four people won $1 million each in California, Texas, Virginia and Florida.
It’s just the sixth time in the game’s nearly 22-year history that the jackpot has reached this level; only five jackpots exceeding $1 billion have been higher.
Mega Millions is the only lottery game that has awarded five jackpots exceeding $1 billion, all in different states. South Carolina was the first in 2018, followed by Michigan in 2021, Illinois in 2022, Maine in early 2023 and Florida last August.
The odds of winning any lottery jackpot are very slim. Mega Millions players have a 1 in 302.6 million chance of taking home the top prize.
Mega Millions tickets cost $2 and are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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