Mega Millions Jackpot Closes In on $1 Billion

Once again the Mega Millions® jackpot is flirting with the magic $1 billion mark. Last July 29, a massive $1.337 billion prize was won in Illinois, and now the jackpot is closing in on 10 figures for the second time in just over five months. After no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night – the white balls 25, 29, 33, 41 and 44, plus the gold Mega Ball 18 – an estimated prize of $940 million ($483.5 million cash) is on tap for Friday, January 6, 2023.

In more than 20 years since the game began in 2002, there have been just three larger jackpots than Friday’s estimated prize. The Mega Millions record remains $1.537 billion, won by a single ticket in South Carolina on October 23, 2018. Two years ago, a $1.05 billion prize was won in Michigan on January 22, 2021, and there was that big $1.337 billion jackpot won in Illinois last July.

Since the jackpot was last won on October 14, the number of winning tickets at all prize levels has grown to more than 22.7 million across the country through 23 drawings. These include 47 worth $1 million or more, won in 19 different states from coast to coast: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

In the January 3 drawing alone, there were 2,904,737 winning tickets, with prizes ranging from $2 up to $4 million. Six tickets matched the five white balls to win the game’s second-tier prize. Three, sold in Arizona, Mississippi and South Dakota, included the optional Megaplier (available in most states with an extra $1 purchase), which was 4X on Tuesday night; they are worth $4 million each. The other three, sold in Maryland, Texas and Virginia, win the standard $1 million prize. The $4 million wins in Mississippi and South Dakota are the largest Mega Millions prizes ever won in those states.

Across the country, 68 tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the third-tier prize. Twelve of those tickets are worth $40,000 each, because they also included the optional Megaplier. The other 56 third-tier winning tickets are worth $10,000 each.

Six Mega Millions jackpots were awarded in 2022, ranging from $20 million in Tennessee to that $1.337 billion in Illinois, and everything in between. The most recent jackpot win was at $502 million, shared by winning tickets in California and Florida on October 14. See a complete list of winning Mega Millions jackpots.

The top Mega Millions jackpots to date:

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