Mega Millions Jackpot Reaches $681 Million, Seventh Largest In Game’s History

A long holiday weekend has passed without any major draw lottery jackpots claimed, leaving Mega Millions’ grand prize growing to historic levels.

Friday’s drawing made 25 consecutive Mega Millions games without a jackpot winner, a streak dating back to June 4. As a result, for Tuesday night, the jackpot stands at $681 million (cash option: $336.1 million).

If someone claims that prize it would be the seventh-largest in the 22-year history of Mega Millions. The other six have all exceeded $1 billion.

A $681 million top prize would be the 20th largest in U.S. draw lottery history, as 13 Powerball jackpots have topped that amount.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350. But as the number of tickets sold for each drawing increase, the chances of the streak extending grow slimmer. For last Friday’s drawing, an estimated 34.7 million tickets were purchased, up 20.2% from the estimated 28.85 million tickets bought for the previous draw.

The 48th and 49th millionaires of this run

None of those nearly 35 million tickets for Friday’s game managed to perfectly match the winning numbers of 10, 17, 20, 24, and 54, with a gold Mega Ball of 8.

Two tickets, however, scored big by matching everything but the Mega Ball. One of those, sold in Florida, was worth $1 million, while the other, purchased in Wisconsin, included the Megaplier for an extra dollar and quadrupled the prize to $4 million. (That has to be the best dollar that person ever spent.)

Over the course of this 25-draw run without a jackpot winner, there have been 49 winners of $1 million or more, and nearly 17.5 million total winning tickets across all prize levels — including those who simply got their $2 back by matching the Mega Ball only.

Don’t forget about Powerball

While the Mega Millions jackpot is making its way onto all-time rankings, the Powerball jackpot has been inching upward as well, with jackpot-free drawings both Saturday and Monday propelling the top prize to an estimated $93 million (cash value: $45.9 million) for Wednesday’s draw.

On Saturday, with winning numbers of 4, 34, 35, 38, and 69 with red Powerball 19, one player in California matched the five white balls and won an even $1 million. Nobody got quite that lucky on Labor Day, as Monday’s drawing, with winning numbers 8, 42, 46, 48, and 53 with red Powerball 22, produced zero millionaires. The biggest haul from that game was a single winner of $150,000.

Those two long weekend draws bring the modest streak to six Powerball draws without a jackpot winner, since a ticket sold in California hit for $44 million on Aug. 19.

Tickets for either Mega Millions or Powerball cost $2, with the option in most states to play the multiplier for an additional $1.

Both lotteries are legal in all states except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah, and tickets are also sold in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Puerto Rico, customers can buy tickets for Powerball, but not Mega Millions.

All-time biggest jackpots

Here is a list of the all-time top 10 U.S. lottery jackpots:

1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
2. $1.76 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
3. $1.6 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
4. $1.59 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
5. $1.54 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
6. $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
7. $1.34 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
8. $1.33 billion, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
9. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024, won in New Jersey
10. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California

And here’s the all-time top 10 by lump-sum cash value:

1. $997.6 million, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
2. $983.5 million, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
3. $877.8 million, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
4. $794.2 million, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
5. $780.5 million, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
6. $776.6 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021, won in Michigan
7. $774.1 million, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
8. $723.5 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
9. $621 million, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
10. $558.1 million, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California